Super League

Rohan Smith explains Leeds Rhinos’ defeat to Castleford Tigers

by
Cam Pattison
June 3, 2023

Speaking after Leeds Rhinos’ defeat to Castleford Tigers, which extends the Rhinos’ poor run of form, Rohan Smith explained what went wrong for the Rhinos in Newcastle.

Smith said after the game:

“Defensively, were you just not able to get hold of the pace and cut off early.

“Overall I thought it was a very slow game, but their shift plays had some energy to it. We just didn’t have the same or the usual level of connectedness and discipline and trust. So they created more opportunities than we would have liked to provide.

“I’m not concerned with managing the lead as much as playing good, solid, complementary footy where the attack helps the defence, the defence helps the attack and the transition stuff is strong.”

That said, Smith refused to question his side’s character after the defeat to the Tigers:

“No, I think everyone that watches rugby league has seen the character that’s in our group. We’ve been backs against the wall a lot lately under a lot of pressure and today we were under a lot of pressure. Cas threw a lot at us, they competed well, threw a lot at us and we were under pressure. Sometimes when you’re under pressure you just don’t always answer the question correctly, but there’s no questioning character and spirit in that room. You don’t do what you did last week and then all of a sudden not have character.”