With it being Boxing Day, we thought we’d look at what every Super League club would wish for this Christmas – within reason of course. The Rhinos began their preparations for the new season with a 34-6 win over Wakefield after two seasons in which they finished fifth in the Super League table. However, by the end of next season it’ll be five years since their last Super League title back in 2017. The club will want to rectify that this season but what should they be asking for this Christmas to help them achieve their goals and become a serious title challenger again after half a decade out of the Grand Final picture.
In the last 20 years the Rhinos have been on some journey. They ended a 32-year for a title in 2004 having always been seen as the bridesmaids of rugby league in the UK. From there they built an unparalleled dynasty winning a further seven Super League titles in the next 13 seasons after their initial success on the back of a golden generation of talent from their brilliant academy.
As this Golden Generation came to an end, they had a few more heights winning the treble in 2015 before a last Super League crown was secured by outgoing legends Danny McGuire and Rob Burrow. Since then, the club has struggled to compete with the likes of St Helens at the Super League summit but have shown signs of improvement winning the Challenge Cup in 2020 and making their way to the Super League semi-finals in 2021.
With some exciting recruitment going into 2022, fans believe that they could be about to make a decisive step back towards the title picture but to do so one thing needs to change: injuries.
In 2016, 2018 and 2021 Leeds had to deal with significant injuries. In two of the years when they didn’t, 2017 and 2020, they actually won a major trophy demonstrating how debilitating these injuries have been to the club in recent years.
So, going into 2022 the thing they should put on their Christmas list is a clean bill of health for as much of the season as possible.
If you look at St Helens’ injury record in recent years, it shows how important avoiding injuries is to success and Leeds will be crossing their fingers that they can put their strongest 17 out there most weeks unlike in 2021.
With two exciting new halves at the club in the shape of Blake Austin and Aidan Sezer Richard Agar will also be hoping that they play together for longer than 12 minutes in 2022 unlike Rob Lui and Luke Gale last season.
If they club can avoid injuries next term then they could become a real title contender.
