Brad Arthur questions ‘very, very tough penalty’ after Leeds Rhinos crash out of Super League semi-finals

Leeds Rhinos head coach Brad Arthur has expressed his disappointment at the penalty given to Warrington Wolves that ultimately proved the difference in Friday night’s Super League semi-final.

Warrington knocked off the hosts with a narrow 14-12 win but the winning points came in the 65th minute after Ewan Irwin converted a penalty that was contentiously given following a James McDonnell escort on George Williams.

It certainly seemed soft at the time with Williams looking for contact just as much as McDonnell potentially stepped across his running line, however, referee Chris Kendall adjudged it a penalty and video referee Liam Rush agreed.

Irwin would kick that to make it 14-12 and Warrington managed to hold on for the final 15 minutes, securing their first trip to Old Trafford since 2018 and ending Leeds’ 2026 season.

Speaking post-match on Sky Sports, Arthur said: “Look, it’s a tough loss. I was extremely proud of the team.

“The boys, everything that could go wrong is what we did this week but we didn’t use it as an excuse. We fought really hard.”

Specifically on the contentious penalty, he said: “I’m really disappointed that I feel like the game’s been decided by a very, very tough penalty. That penalty should not have been decided in a game of that magnitude.”

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‘Would have been nice to let the two teams decide the result’ – Leeds Rhinos boss reflects on semi-final loss

Arthur also conceded that his side did not ice all the big moments with Leeds failing to convert territory into points, particularly in the second half where they were scoreless.

He admitted: “We’ve got to go and have a look at the couple of moments that we probably didn’t own in the second half. Last plays down at the goal line.

“There was plenty of fight, but at the end of the day, it wasn’t good enough.”

He also praised his side’s response to the injury issues, with all of Ash Handley, Jack Bird, Maika Sivo and Chris Hankinson pulling out at some point in the week, with Hankinson doing so in the warm-up.

Arthur said: “The only thing we can control on the back of that was our attitude to it and our attitude was excellent. We didn’t look for excuses. We didn’t kick stones. We just went out there and gave it our best shot.

“Unfortunately, we fell short but yeah, I’m extremely proud of the group. I didn’t want it to end this way and it would have been nice to let the two teams decide the result, I reckon.”

Reflecting on the year, he said: “We’ve had a great season. Obviously, it hasn’t ended the way we would like. I think we should have been playing in the Grand Final so we need to look at the reasons why we’re not.

“It’s going to be a long off season, isn’t it, thinking about it, but we just have to move on. I’d just like to thank the crowd. Fantastic. Their support here as well. We fought hard. It just wasn’t good enough.”

80 minutes completed and @WarringtonRLFC have secured their spot in the Grand Final 🔥

See you at Old Trafford 😎#SuperLeague pic.twitter.com/bDaEBWSdlG

— Betfred Super League (@SuperLeague) September 25, 2026