Lachie Miller has admitted the timing of his season-ending injury is torrid, however, he’s pushed back on any fears of questions over Leeds Rhinos’ form.
Leeds will host Warrington Wolves on Friday night at Headingley with the Rhinos bidding to make their first Super League Grand Final since 2022, the year that also happened to be the last time the club beat a Super League side in a knock-out game.
Since then, the Rhinos have lost all Challenge Cup games against Super League opponents and they’ve lost all play-off games, including last year’s devastating loss against St Helens at Headingley – a ground that has been a fortress in 2026 until the final three games.
Leeds lost three of their final five matches in the regular season, sacrificing the League Leaders Shield, and all three of those games came at home. One of those matches was the defeat to Wigan in which Lachie Miller went down injured, with what’s since been confirmed as a season-ending injury, though he’s told Sky Sports’ The Bench podcast that he knew straight away.
He explained: “With hamstrings, you can sort of tell pretty quickly and you it just felt like something gave way a little bit, which is unfortunate because we were really looking forward to that game and from there, it was a tough reshuffle.
“The hardest thing was that I had to watch the rest of the game knowing that I probably wasn’t going to play again this year.”
It means the Rhinos head into the play-offs without the Super League Dream Team full-back, but Miller insisted: “It’s all part of the sport. The timing is not great but everyone goes through it at some stage. It’s just, as I say, the timing is ****.
“The boys are in a good position anyway. I know that they can go on and do good things so it’s about doing what I can do now and not kicking stones.”
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Leeds Rhinos’ recent home form only adds ‘fuel to the fire’, claims Miller
Far from being disheartened by recent home losses, Miller also explained that those defeats can serve as motivation for the playing group when they face Warrington on Friday night.
He said: “We’re pretty fortunate that we get to play at home and the boys are pretty upset the last few weeks that we haven’t delivered at home, so that will give us a little bit of extra motivation.
“It’s obviously been tough but the good thing with the boys is that they’ve never lost hope. If anything, it’s probably added fuel to the fire.
“The disappointing one was the Hull FC one at home and it was a tough review to watch back but the good thing is that they’ve flipped the focus.”
The Rhinos’ form dipping at the wrong time has been a big topic among fans and media, something Miller was well aware of, though he added: “We’re the talk of the town at the minute but from the inside, we’re not worried.”
He’s also backed centre Ash Handley, who will be the man to deputise at full-back, to go strong at full-back, noting the ease of his transition from wing to centre as evidence why the switch to full-back won’t be a problem.
Miller said: “He trained there the other day and he looks good. In that Hull game, he was one of our better players and ran for something like 300 metres.
“I have said to him that if he needs help then he can ask but I don’t want to jump in his face.”
