YEP Jury: Leeds Rhinos fans can breathe easier after professional display at London Broncos

ANDREW SUTCLIFFE

The collective sigh of relief was heard all the way up the M1 from London to Leeds on Sunday afternoon.

Although not mathematically safe, a ridiculous set of results would need to happen in order for Leeds Rhinos to still get 
relegated.

Love him or hate him, Richard Agar has steadied the ship and led us to safety. Whether he’s the choice for next season is still to be decided but appears to have done himself no harm.

Sunday’s game wasn’t a classic, two desperate teams fighting for two points on a surface not suitable for Super League.

Leeds played well for large parts, only slipping back into their old ways for a short time. Ultimately their class showed and ran out convincing winners.

Special mentions to another perfect kicking game from Rhyse Martin and another try for Ash Handley taking him clear at the top of the charts.

Two games left at home and hopefully we can take a winning run into the off-season.

Salford will be tough with them chasing a decent position going into the play-offs.

LUKE CROSSFIELD

We can breathe a lot easier now and now we can relax. Our mid-season recruits have been very good, with Ava Seumanufagai and Rhyse Martin being the stand-outs.

The team is still miles away from contending at the top once again, however I think we will push on next season.

Credit to Richard Agar who has completed his task of keeping us in Super League. I am not 100 per cent convinced he should be given the head coach role.

It did get very nervy when London scored two quick tries early in the second half however we finished the game very strongly.

Ash Handley deserves his place on the Lions training squad, Stevie Ward getting picked is rather bizarre as I would rather see him get some game time first.

On to this week and it is a fantastic game to start putting a marker down against Salford who are the in-form team in Super League.

We need to finish the season strongly to start building for next season when it will be even tougher to stay up.

THOMAS LAWRENCE

Job done! The excitement that all other clubs had about Leeds getting relegated from Super League in 2019 can now fade away and more importantly Leeds can start to prepare for a more successful 2020 season and in the meantime enjoy the remaining two fixtures at Headingley without urgency or pressure.

It has been another tough season in which Leeds have suffered from a lack of confidence, but unlike 2018 there has been some really positive performances from Leeds at the end of this season that hopefully act as a springboard going into 2020.

The aim is for this to continue on Friday evening against an in-form Salford team who are competing for a play-off place, just like it is hoped Leeds will be doing next season.

Nonetheless, it is an opportunity for Leeds to continue this good form in a test against another team that is playing well.

Furthermore, I hope that we get the result on Friday night so that next week’s fixture against Warrington could be the one where we have a final chance to win three league games in a row this year.

OLIVER HAWKHEAD

As the final whistle blew on the London Broncos v Leeds Rhinos game, a chant of ‘we are staying up’ filled the air at the Trailfinders Stadium.

There was obviously a sense of relief, however it really put our season into perspective.

The vast majority of the fans had seen this team lift numerous trophies and now we were just relieved to be staying in the league.

Although the team are playing much better now, it is still a hugely disappointing season.

I’m not saying next year we should be winning the treble, but I do think this team is capable of at least challenging for a play-off spot.

At the start of the second half we did lose our way and some very kind calls did helped us get back into the game.

Apart from this spell we were very impressive and should have scored a few more tries.

Saying this, what mattered was the result and not how we got it.

We can now watch the relegation battle unfold without looking too much over our shoulders. I’m not sure who I want to go down!

KATIE BURROWS

The end is in sight after last weekend’s win in the capital, and while we’re not mathematically safe, it would be very unlikely for us to be relegated now.

Sunday’s scoreline flattered us a little, as we made a lot of the usual errors, but fortunately for us London made more. It was a tense affair at times, as it was always going to be, especially at the start of the second half when it looked like London might creep back into the game, but some solid defence kept the Broncos at bay and we proved too strong.

Our support has been pivotal this year and it was great to see the Rhinos fans turn up in their numbers, producing a record crowd of over 3,000 at Ealing Trailfinders.

London have exceeded expectations this year and should be proud of their achievements: beating St Helens twice, winning nine games and still with a chance of Super League survival heading into the final two games.

I maintain we won’t pick up any points from our remaining two games, so protecting our points difference is key – anything else will be a bonus.

TIM NUTTALL

Not exactly time to break open the champers, but a job well done by the boys means that barring a mathematical miracle (and a meltdown even the Rhinos don’t seem capable of) we will be playing in Super League in 2020!

The final score looks like it was a comfortable afternoon, but when London reduced the gap to 18-10 it began to feel as if we might manage to throw the game away.

Thankfully the boys re-gathered themselves and put London away in the final quarter.

It looked as if a bit of work had been done on our attack during the break; there seemed a lot more fluency and execution, especially in the second half.

Not bad when you consider how big the game was, nerves were going to be a factor on the day/

Salford Red Devils are up next on Friday, who are in very good form.

It will be tough but it will be another opportunity to put ourselves against a top-five team. They will ask us a lot of questions in defence.

It would be nice to round the season off with two wins.