'We've turned our season around': Skipper says Leeds Rhinos are on the up

Rhinos travel to Wigan Warriors on Friday for a Betfred Super League semi-final and the club’s wheelchair team play host to London Roosters in the same stage of their competition at Leeds Beckett University the following day (3.30pm).

Leeds’ women’s side are through to their fourth successive Super League title decider, against York City Knights at St Helens on Sunday and Rhinos’ physical disability side won their competition last week.

“With the rich history Leeds has got, it’s important to be successful and the fans want nothing less,” Leeming said of the flurry of big games.

“I knew when I signed for Leeds we needed to be winning things, that’s part of the demands of playing for such a big club and it’s why I signed.

“I want to win stuff here and for us to be heading in the right direction. The academy and the women being in their Grand Finals is good for the club and the city.”

Leeming also reckons the success of Rhinos’ under-18s, who are away to St Helens in the academy Grand Final a week on Sunday, points the way to a bright future.

“Rohan [Smith, Rhinos’ coach] has put a lot of time into the academy,” he said. “He has been signing players you might say are not first team players, but he is making the youth team stronger.

“He has a bigger vision and that’s what you need from the person at the head of things. You can’t just look at results week-in and week-out - you have to look at the bigger picture and I think that’s what Rohan has done brilliantly.

“The club was successful for a long time and then the golden generation left and it took a bit of rebuilding.

“I can remember St Helens going through it, after they lost people like Keiron Cunningham. They went through a tough period, but they have got themselves back on top now and that’s what we are trying to do.”

Leeming added: “The future we have here is so exciting and promising. Rohan has only been here a short period of time and there’s still so much he wants to teach us.

“He has come in, kept things simple and left people to do their job. There’s a back and white job description for each position, so no matter who’s playing there they know what’s right and what’s wrong.

“I think we’ve turned the season around and we’ve given the fans something to cheer about and that’s great because they have been brilliant.

“They’ve been outstanding all year, we really appreciate what they have done for us and it’s good to give them something back.”