Leeds Rhinos head coach Brad Arthur has hit out at his players for showing a “lack of respect for the game” despite winning 38-24 against Castleford Tigers.
It marked the second win in a row for the Rhinos but te Leeds boss was not happy with the final 20 minutes, stating that the club’s entire review will be focused on that ahead of next week’s trip to face Catalans.
Castleford managed to score three tries in the final 10 minutes with the game breaking wide open and Arthur has claimed that happened due to his players having a ‘lack of respect’.
Speaking post-match on Sky Sports, Arthur pulled no punches in his assessment of the match as he labelled the last 20 minutes as “not good enough”.
The Australian said: “Well I’m happy for our home fans, we need to get our first win at home, but I’m very disappointed in that performance, the last 20 minutes were not good enough.
“I thought we showed a real level of composure and patience and professionalism for 60 minutes and then we just lost respect for the opposition and ourselves and it’s not the style of footy I want us to play.”
Brad Arthur tears into Leeds Rhinos for final 20 minutes
The Rhinos make it back to back wins as they defeat Castleford at AMT Headingley
Rhinos 38 – 24 Tigers
🤝 In partnership #Anchor #ButtertheFoodButtertheMood pic.twitter.com/AOYnfZTV8J— Leeds Rhinos (@leedsrhinos) March 2, 2025
The talking points approaching the game were about how Leeds would deal with their injuries with Brodie Croft, Matt Frawley and Cameron Smith all missing out which saw Morgan Gannon forced into the halves alongside Jack Sinfield.
Whilst Arthur gave those young halves credit, his tough assessment continued with the final 20 minutes the subject of his disappointment.
“We always knew it was always going to be hard, we lost our 7, 6 and 13 who are the three guys that handled the ball the most so we were going to be a little bit scrappy with our attack,” Arthur admitted.
On the first half, he said: “We didn’t lose any patience and composure and just stuck to the plan and we knew that we’d be hard to handle physically and we’d fall over the line. It didn’t matter how we scored, they’re still worth four points.
“I was really pleased with that then we spoke at a half time and started the second half really well but then the last 20 minutes, we showed a lack of respect for the game really.”
Next up is a clash against Catalans in France with Arthur claiming Leeds will have to be better or get ‘shown up’. The coach also gave a blunt response when asked if there will be even a little cause for celebration.
He said: “No, we’ll be going hard at the boys and we’ll be watching nothing but the last 20 minutes.”
One of those who starred but also caught some flack was full-back Jake Connor with Arthur lamenting the “pretty and fluffy” stuff, stating: “He’s doing a lot of good things but he’s got to learn, I’ve had those conversations with him as well, that when things are going well for us, the pretty stuff doesn’t interest me.
“I don’t want pretty players, I want tough players. He’s slowly learning and he’s got a lot of class about him. He’s getting better, but we try to be too pretty and fluffy at the end of the game.”
