Boss Brad Arthur has warned his Leeds Rhinos players against getting “bored” with playing well.
Rhinos will take a three-match winning run into tomorrow’s (Friday) Betfred Challenge Cup fourth round derby at Wakefield Trinity, having scored 126 points in that time and conceded only 24.
They could be at full-strength, with all their top 17 named in Arthur’s initial squad, but the coach insisted the key to a cup run is sticking to what they are good at.
“I don’t want to see us get bored with what we are doing,” he stressed. “We know what works for us and I feel like we are owning our moments better this year.
“That was a thing we focused on and practiced through pre-season and our response to when we have a bad moment is better.
“In the last couple of weeks our last 10 minutes has been better in terms of not conceding any cheap points or getting a bit loose.
“I know there was 20-25 minutes at the end of the game the other day [against Castleford Tigers] when we didn’t score a point, but that wasn’t a real priority for me – it was the way we went about what we did.
“It’s just a matter of not getting bored because we are doing it over and over. Hull KR won three trophies last year by doing the same thing every week.”
Arthur stressed: “You’ve got to work out what works for you. We’ve worked out what we think works for us, now it’s just about doing it all the time.
“You are going to face different challenges and some days it is going to feel a bit easier than others.
“Some days it is going to be tough and when it’s tough you have got to toughen up with it, stick at it and believe in it.”
Rhinos haven’t reached the quarter-finals of the Challenge Cup since they beat Salford Red Devils in the final six years ago.
That was also their last win against top-flight opposition and Arthur admitted there are “no excuses” for another failure tomorrow.
He stressed: “We are in a good position, we have got a good squad and we understand how we want to play.
“We understand it is make or break, there’s no second chances. We just need to go and play our game, believe in what we do and go and give ourselves our best shot at it.”
As an Aussie, Arthur is a fan of the Challenge Cup and admitted he’d love to be part of the big day at Wembley in two months’ time.
He said: “I really like the format, I like the idea of it and it’s something I want to be part of right until the end.
“We know it’s not easy, it’s tough and there’s a bit of luck of the draw needed along the way, but I like the concept.”
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