YEP Jury: Make no mistake, Leeds Rhinos are in a Super League relegation dogfight

It’s not all doom and gloom for the Yorkshire Evening Post jurors, however, with many eyeing hints of light at the end of the tunnel, notably in the guise of Ava Seumanufagai and Trent Merrin, an improved defence and the prospect of using the cash generated by the departure of Kallum Watkins to bring in a top-class playmaker.

Here’s what they think; see if you agree:

Andrew Sutcliffe

So, the winning run is over and the relegation dogfight is truly on! Our defeat, coupled with Hull KR’s and London’s victories, have really put us in trouble.

Friday’s game against a very average Wigan was as winnable as they come. Poor last-tackle options and a lack of a decent kicking game were our downfall. We had plenty of pressure and field position but did little with it.

We do look a better team defensively but need to now start scoring some points to win games.

Tomorrow’s game doesn’t get much harder than a trip to Saints. If we could play anywhere near the level we did last time against them then who knows?

The news of Kallum Watkins’ imminent departure is sad. He has been the mainstay of the Leeds team for many years and it feels like he’s been treated poorly.

Best of luck to him in Australia. Whether this move allows us to fill his salary cap with a new player or two remains to be seen. It’s going to be an interesting few weeks.

Thomas Lawrence

What a difference 24 hours made last weekend!

On Friday, a home victory over Wigan would have put us level on points with them and in a position where we could start looking forward rather than over our shoulders. A disappointing performance and defeat and wins for London and Hull KR leave us in the relegation dogfight ahead of a trip to top-of-the-league St Helens.

There’s going to be some nervy weeks ahead for us as all wins are extremely precious now and, given our relegation rivals’ recent results, I think the fear is real. London are stable and enjoying the freedom of being the underdog in Super League and Hull KR are responding to a new coach. What about us? We still don’t have a permanent coach and our captain will only wear our badge two more times. I’d say that we are far from stable right now.

St Helens tomorrow – somewhere that we should have won back in February. A team whose league form has been irresistible, pretty much the opposite of Leeds.

Safe to say, we are huge second favourites but I guess you just never know with Leeds …

Luke Crosfield

Last weekend could not have gone any worse for us.

I found the Wigan game very frustrating as I felt we did match them.

However, our execution and last-tackle plays were very poor.

I thought Ava Seumanufagai had a fantastic game in the middle and, apart from his penalties, I thought Trent Merrin was very good.

We have to keep our eye on points difference so giving away the late try to Tony Clubb was very disappointing.

I am surprised to see Kallum Watkins leave after the Catalan Dragons home game next week. However, I think he will do very well at Gold Coast.

Hopefully we will get a half-back in as we don’t have anyone who can control a game.

This week is not going to get any easier with an away trip to the league leaders.

St Helens have, once again, been head and shoulders above everyone else this season.

They thrashed Huddersfield Giants last week at home and will be wanting another victory in their quest to finish top of the table.

Oliver Hawkhead

Last Friday evening against Super League rivals Wigan Warriors was definitely an opportunity missed for inconsistent Leeds Rhinos.

With the top-flight table becoming more and more compacted with every week of rounds, we definitely need to be getting results out of that sort of game.

This season, our main problems have been defence and our discipline.

I think our defence is improving, slowly.

But it seems to me that that defensive improvement is now coming at the expense of our attack.

This was the most disappointing aspect of the second half for me against the Warriors and I don’t think anyone would argue that we gave ourselves many chances to win the game during the second half.

Our inability to take key opportunities, coupled with the ill discipline in the first half ensured Wigan prevailed. They took the two points with not even an average performance.

Hopefully we can keep growing in the coming weeks which we will need to do if Hull KR and London keep picking up wins.

Katie Burrows

Despite losing at home to Wigan last week, an improved Rhinos performance continues to give me hope.

Our defence has been better over the last two games, and players such as Trent Merrin and Ava Seumanufagai are showing their worth. I was disappointed by Chris Kendall’s inconsistency on Friday and thought his interpretation of the rules in the second half was totally different to what we saw in the first 40 minutes.

That said, he isn’t the reason we lost.

I don’t have very high hopes for this Friday’s game at St Helens but I don’t think many fans will.

After seeing them demolish Castleford at Magic Weekend, it’s clear that Saints are in a league of their own. Having said that, when we visited back in February, we put up a good fight and weren’t far off, plus London’s recent win has proven anything can happen!

I know we need the two points more than anything at the moment but I think that’s out of the question.

If we can avoid a humiliating defeat this week, I’ll be happy – anything else is a bonus.

Tim Nuttall

If we are going to claw our way out of relegation trouble, then games like last Friday’s against Wigan Warriors are ones that we have to start winning.

We were in the game for large periods but we let Wigan off the hook, on too many occasions.

For all there are signs our defence is improving, the same doesn’t feel the same about our attack.

There still looks a major lack of combinations and structure and we seem to be relying far too heavily on an individual coming up with something themselves.

The team spirit looks better than it was and the boys seem proud when there are moments of good defence.

Saturday’s results have made everything very tense again but, with 11 rounds to go (seven games at home), we just have to focus on ourselves.

Friday’s trip to St Helens isn’t the best of fixtures at the current time, but London did show they can be beaten.

It is going to take one-17 to find a performance we haven’t seen often.

I would like to end by wishing Kallum Watkins and his family all the best.