YEP Jury: Leeds Rhinos must rediscover attacking style in derby showdown

Our panel of fans look back on Leeds Rhinos’ narrow defeat to Catalans Dragons and ahead to Thursday’s derby clash at Wakefield Trinity.
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KYHA GOTT

Three defeats in three and sitting near the bottom of the Super League table; it hasn’t been a great start really but, given the teams we have come up against, it has not been easy for our Rhinos.

That said, three other teams are in the same boat.

If fit, some fans feel Muizz Mustapha could give Leeds Rhinos the oomph off the bench they lacked against Catalans Dragons. 
Picture: Jonathan Gawthorpe.If fit, some fans feel Muizz Mustapha could give Leeds Rhinos the oomph off the bench they lacked against Catalans Dragons. 
Picture: Jonathan Gawthorpe.
If fit, some fans feel Muizz Mustapha could give Leeds Rhinos the oomph off the bench they lacked against Catalans Dragons. Picture: Jonathan Gawthorpe.

In theory, the next game should be easier.

We travel just down the road to Wakefield to play Trinity on Thursday night under the lights.

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Trinity have struggled themselves at the start of this campaign, having lost all of their games too, but they are currently above us in the table on points difference having scored two more than us, and conceded six fewer.

We need to attack them from the get-go if we want to put our first points on the table for this campaign.

Alex Mellor leaves the pitch on a stretcher during the Catalans Dragons match. He was thankfully cleared of serious injury. 
Picture: Jonathan Gawthorpe.Alex Mellor leaves the pitch on a stretcher during the Catalans Dragons match. He was thankfully cleared of serious injury. 
Picture: Jonathan Gawthorpe.
Alex Mellor leaves the pitch on a stretcher during the Catalans Dragons match. He was thankfully cleared of serious injury. Picture: Jonathan Gawthorpe.

But, also, our defence needs to be on top of their game if we want to stop Tom Johnstone, who is on four tries already after three games.

I’m optimistic we can achieve our first win of the season on Thursday and bring the points back to Headingley.

OLIVER LIMON

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Reasons to be cheerful: Alex Mellor has not suffered a serious injury after being stretchered off, our defence and effort has improved, and more players are returning to face Wakefield.

Blake Austin touches down against Catalans Dragons. Picture: Jonathan Gawthorpe.Blake Austin touches down against Catalans Dragons. Picture: Jonathan Gawthorpe.
Blake Austin touches down against Catalans Dragons. Picture: Jonathan Gawthorpe.

Unfortunately, the Dragons came to town in arctic conditions; wind and rain made it a gruelling spectacle to watch. Leeds scored their only points through a Blake Austin try, to which Catalans responded with a four-pointer from Yaha. In the second half, the Dragons scored the final points of the game with a Chan try and Drinkwater conversion.

Leeds had plenty of opportunities to produce a win but there was a procession of dropped balls near the line and desperate defence kept us scoreless in the second half. The sin-binning of Pearce for a high shot should have been a turning point but Leeds spurned a golden opportunity to snatch victory.

It wasn’t a game to ‘bring a friend for free to’. That is now three games without a win.

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It was sad to hear parts of the crowd booing on the hooter; Trinity will definitely scent blood from the wounded Rhinos. The winning run will begin this week. Keep the faith.

JOSH MORROW

Leeds’ start to the season has gone just about as badly as it possibly could have after losing three on the bounce.

Things won’t be getting any easier either with the side travelling over to Wakefield who always raise their game against the Rhinos. Leeds have started the games well but have failed to capitalise, one reason for this being the lack of a specialist front-rower on the bench.

Other teams carry at least four or five on game day and we have three.

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If they can get Muizz Mustapha fit, his energy could be just what’s needed when the starters have a breather.

One thing that stood out on Thursday night was the lack of creativity in the opposition 20. We can get there easily enough but never looked like troubling Catalans Dragons.

Blake Austin and Aidan Sezer need to take control of this team.

I think the team is missing the strike play out wide from Rhyse Martin with the lines he runs out there and the power he has to get over the line.

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The hands of Richie Myler from ‘out back’ are missed hugely too.

IAIN SHARP

“We’re not dead yet” James Bond tells Melina Havelock in For Your Eyes Only as 007 faces another impossible situation.

The same could be applied to Leeds, starting the season with three defeats but, as bodies return, everyone gets a grip of the refereeing standards and the weather ameliorates, things should improve. Stuff Wakefield this week and dejection becomes a memory. Remember, it’s not the league position that counts but being in a position to contest the Grand Final.

Leeds Vs Catalans: ‘The Directors Cut’, a game that ran to nearly two hours with all the stoppages. Whilst players had HIA (Head Injury Assessments) fans had their own HIAs – Hypothermia Induced Assessments – on a freezing night. The spectacle was made much worse by Catalans’ ‘grub’ tactics of laying on and (deliberately?) conceding penalties early in the count, which was seemingly ignored/condoned by the officials.

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I dislike Thursday-night games. Late nights on a ‘school night’ are hardly family friendly and again shows scant regard for the needs of the paying public over the whims of the broadcaster.

KENDLE HARDISTY

It was another really tough watch last Thursday against Catalans.

It wasn’t the greatest advert for rugby – the game never really got going owing to persistent mistakes, and the referee blowing up seemingly constantly didn’t help either. We are yet to see the Sezer/Austin combination click but the sooner the better with our current situation. Rhinos had so many opportunities in the game to keep the ball moving along the line but over and over again went with the short ball.

It would be good to see us be braver in our attacks.

Last week was a must-win in my opinion and this week’s game at Wakefield is no different. Both teams are looking for that first win but, with Leeds’ squad and expectations this season, if it’s anything other than a win, there could be some difficult conversations to be had with coach Richard Agar.

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Sounds like Rhyse Martin, Harry Newman and David Fusitu’a are back in contention to face Wakefield, which is welcome timing.

It’s great news to hear that Alex Mellor was given the all-clear on his neck as well.

TOM RHODES

Another poor result last Thursday night, if we played until midnight we still wouldn’t have scored another try. What has happened to this team?

Ever since Warrington, we’ve turned into a standard League One team, playing bland rugby, passing the ball and just running straight, not creating chances or moving the ball about on the pitch.

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This will get us nowhere and we’ll be back in the mess we were in three seasons ago and fighting to get out of the bottom quarter.

Wakefield on Thursday will be a very tough one; similar to us, they are desperate for a win.

The crowd at Belle Vue will be very daunting on our boys but we need to stay strong and break down Wakefield.

Certain players need to show their worth, the likes of Sezer and Leeming who in my eyes have been very poor so far. Plus, a certain number of our forwards seem to be standing still when the ball is thrown at them.

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Hopefully big David Fusitu’a will be able to shine, after just missing out last week due to concussion. We can only hope Agar has whipped them into shape.

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