Leeds Rhinos head coach Brad Arthur said poor skill was to blame for his side’s shock 18-12 defeat by Hull FC in the final game of the regular season.
Defeat at Headingley marked Leeds’ third loss in five matches with all of those defeats coming at home, and it also meant that they finished second in the Betfred Super League table, four points behind Wigan Warriors and only ahead of Warrington Wolves on points difference.
By merit of finishing second, the Rhinos do get next weekend off before a semi-final at AMT Headingley on Friday, September 25, against the highest-ranked elimination play-off winners.
Speaking to the media after Friday’s game, Arthur said: “I’m disappointed with the result. I thought we were better physically tonight, the forwards were good, dominated field position and possession, especially in the first half.
“I just thought we were poor on our edges with our execution – some of our skill was poor. We created more than enough chances and opportunities and we didn’t ice them. It’s as simple as that.”
The Australian added: “Some individuals have got to be more focused around owning their job. The forwards couldn’t have done any more, they put us in really good field position for the majority of the game. We passed and should’ve kicked or kicked and should’ve passed or poor selection with the pass or poor passes, poor catch – just our skill wasn’t good enough.
“We had enough chances – they scored from a drop out, that’s not good enough.”
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Calling for calm, Arthur went on to explain that the end-of-season form does not reflect the club’s entire year, with the season now entering the new phase of the play-offs.
He said: “Overall it has been a really good season, we can’t go away from that. Our last couple of weeks haven’t been great, but 14 days isn’t going to count for anything really – it’s what we do in two weeks’ time.
“We have five or six sessions leading into the game so we’ve got plenty of time to recover and get ready and make sure everyone knows what their job is. Really, we are 80 minutes away from Old Trafford, aren’t we. That’s what we’ve got to focus on.
“We know we are going to be there in week two and we’ve got to get it right. There was plenty of fight and we tried hard, we just didn’t nail some execution.”
Defeat to the Black and Whites also means that Hull FC have managed to do the double over the Rhinos in 2026, becoming the only side to manage the feat despite their lowly Super League ranking.
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Rhinos 12 – 18 Hull FC pic.twitter.com/kmgVKI2j09— Leeds Rhinos (@leedsrhinos) September 11, 2026
