'Why are we letting Sam Walters leave'? Leeds Rhinos fans upset and confused after St Helens defeat

Better was expected against a Saints side who were missing a host of first-choice players, but familiar failings let Rhinos down.

Here’s what our supporters’ panel made of it and their thoughts ahead of Sunday’s visit of Leigh Leopards.

SAM BROCKSOM

Another week, another game of asking why we are letting Sam Walters leave? He has been by far our most

consistent player in recent weeks and certainly our best prop. But oh well, we have Justin Sangare

for another year so all is well.

Once again game management cost us, this time against a very beatable St Helens side who

had over half a dozen first team players missing.

Blake Austin kicking out on the full from inside his own half summed up the awful way we control games. Rumours are saying he could be going to Featherstone. I don’t think he thought it through when he issued his ‘come and get me’ plea on Sky Sports.

We have a tough game against an in-form Leigh side next, who will have one eye on the Challenge Cup final.

A win looks unlikely given recent form and ability to create on the last tackle, but this is Leeds Rhinos and a result could come from anywhere.

We fans never know which side will turn up, but we are hoping for a strong performance to start the end of our season on a good note.

DAVID MUHL

Prior to kick off I was confident the game was ours for the taking.

St Helens had several players out and their bench had a weakened look to it, but somehow, we managed to grasp defeat out of the jaws of victory.

The Rhinos’ inconsistency struck again and I was left disappointed. We don’t seem to have anyone that can get a grip on the game and manage it when we are in a winning position. We most definitely had chances to win this game but let Saints back into it, particularly just before half-time and when Blake Austin kicked out on the full which allowed Saints to attack and score.

There were still positives: Nene Macdonald had a good game both in the centre and later when he was moved to the wing and Sam Walters showed what we’ll miss next year with a beautifully-taken try and was a little unfortunate to have a second wiped out for offside.

Rhyse Martin continued his good kicking run and has shown his versatility in moving to centre, where he has played more games than at second-row this year.

I think we have a team of good players who when they click are as good as any team in the league; unfortunately, they don’t click often enough.

Although mathematically we are still in with a chance of getting into the play-offs it will be extremely difficult this year with away fixtures at Huddersfield, Hull and Catalans to come.

We have a chance of winning next week when we play Leigh, who may have one eye on the Challenge Cup final. If we lose this then I think our season will be over and we can start looking towards next year and blood some of our promising youngsters.

BECKY OXLEY

Last week was the third match against St Helens this season and there was only a point between the sides in the previous two. Could we make it two wins to their one?

It was a strong, unchanged squad and having had a week off for the Challenge Cup break I was optimistic for the win.

After attending the gold members event at Headingley a couple of weeks ago I felt like I understood a bit more about plans for the present and future of the club, in the eyes of both Rohan Smith and Gary Hetherington

Saints had a number of injured and suspended players, but this didn’t stop them. Rhyse Martin had a top game and I must admit apart from him we were pretty flat and looked very lost.

There was no get up and go and too many errors. Fans were complaining about the ref but it’s never an excuse in my eyes. You play with what you have and get on with your own game plan.

We have a few days now to prepare for Leigh at Headingley and that isn’t going to be easy. I think we need to go back to basics and work together as a team to build. We are at the business end of the season now and every game counts.

IAIN SHARP

In the heady days of the move to summer rugby, at the start of the Super League era, fans were promised that the sport would be bigger and better than before.

In particular, officials with the benefit of TV would be able to remove uncertainty and dodgy tries from the lexicon. In the summer era, there would be no doubts.

Whizz forward 25-plus years and the Tee Ritson try for St Helens last Friday sums up how Super League has fallen behind other sports.

Not just forward, but practically in another time zone. In cricket, I can now trust LBW decisions. At Wimbledon, I know if a ball is in or out, without John McEnroe’s chalk dust and in football, there’s no more 1966 controversy about the ball crossing the line or not.

The technology to judge on forward passes now exists, so why isn’t it implemented ?

I’m not suggesting that referees have an easy job, nor will I lower myself to respond to that cheapest of jibes ‘well, if you can do any better…’, so why not make it as easy as possible for them at the top level?

In a sport that has prided itself on development and evolution over the last 127 years, why does innovation seem to have stalled in the last couple of decades?

JOSH JACKSON

After another week’s rest due to the Challenge Cup, the game at Saints was a good chance for us to get going once again after the Hull KR defeat.

With St Helens missing a number of key players, we had a great opportunity to get the two points.

However, this is the most inconsistent team I’ve ever known us have and I wasn’t confident we would get the job done.

I thought throughout the game we were poor in every department. St Helens made so many errors, gifting us really good field position and we just never looked like taking the opportunities.

Attack once again was extremely poor and really easy for Saints to read. Individual poor errors in defence cost us the game, especially when we had just gone in front in the second half and James Bentley rushed out the line leaving a humongous gap for Jack Welsby to run through and score. Another disappointing result and I am struggling to see what this team does now until the end of the season.