Richard Agar was a downbeat head coach following Leeds Rhinos’ 36-8 defeat to St Helens at the Totally Wicked Stadium.
It was a semi-final play-off clash against the second-place team, but Agar knew his side were second best.
“We were beaten by the better team, we didn’t execute and get to the levels we needed to, but at the same time some of that laid at our feet as well as the relentless pressure they put us under,” Agar said.
“The sinbin in the second-half really hurt us, but they started dominating.
“There were a lot of costly things from us, including the yellow cards and then when we’re talking about missing touch with a penalty, that’s not semi-final football.
“The delivery from ourselves wasn’t good enough, but you’ve got to pay credit to the opposition.
“It’s a disappointing night but I’ve got to pay tribute to the opposition because I thought they were really impressive.”
Agar, on the whole, wasn’t happy with the refereeing performance from Chris Kendall.
“There were some poor calls, but the scoreboard justifiably looked like it did.
“Even when Rob Lui tackled Regan Grace and they ran in, we lost the penalty – I was mystified by some of the decisions.”
