Leeds Rhinos head coach Brad Arthur has named a ‘positive’ that has been handed to his side as they aim to break into the play-off places and he has talked about the impact of his arrival on the players.
The Rhinos are currently just one spot behind the playoff places, and four points behind the bottom three sides occupying them: namely St Helens, Catalans Dragons and Salford Red Devils.
Arthur has mentioned multiple times that the goal for this season has to be to make the playoffs, and they’re not far off at all as we approach the closing stages of the campaign.
However, in the remaining ten games of the season, the Rhinos play seven games against the current top six – a quirk of the much-maligned Super League scheduling system.
Asked about this, in his first official pre-match press conference for Leeds Rhinos, he responded:Â “I get it, it’s a short period. I wish I had a pre-season with these guys because I can guarantee you we can make a lot more significant changes and improvements.
“The aim is that we need to be better than where we sit right now. I’m looking at it as a positive that in seven of those ten games, we’re against the teams that we need to take points off.”
Leeds Rhinos “need to look at [fixtures] as a positive”
Credit: Imago Images
Arthur continued, explaining the impact of his arrival on the players: “We need to look at that as a positive that there might be two points for us, but it’s two points off them. If you can manage to do that on a few of them, they’re four-point games, aren’t they?
“I’ll keep referring back to their standards and expectations that we’ve talked about and we’ve set, and I’m not going to chop and change from them week to week. The boys have got real clarity around how our game needs to look. Now it’s a matter of trying to execute that on a weekly basis.
“We’re actually looking forward to those games because they’re pretty important and they can be real positive for us.”
Up next for the Rhinos is a tough game at home to Hull KR at Headingley on Saturday 20th July at 3pm.
