Rohan Smith reveals Leeds Rhinos stars were “under the weather” ahead of Leigh Leopards clash

Leeds Rhinos again came up short this week against Leigh Leopards after recent defeats to Hull KR and St Helens which have stalled the Rhinos’ momentum to a real halt in the race for the play-offs.

The Rhinos led 6-4 at the break after a Jarrod O’Connor try was converted by Rhyse Martin. That try came after Edwin Ipape had given Leigh the lead in very similar fashion darting over from close range.

However, the Rhinos went on to lose the game 13-6 as they lost the second half 9-0 to the Leopards.

Speaking after the game on YouTube, Rohan Smith explained why he thought his side came up short:

“It was a good contest, tough physical game again we were there or there abouts.

“We were beaten in a couple of critical moments defensively but overall I thought our defence was excellent against a very good attacking team.

“We had some position ourselves but we probably didn’t execute as well as we would have liked and didn’t find the main road.

“I thought the rest of the game we struggled to get a roll on in the rest of the game.”

He also revealed that the Rhinos went into the game with stars under the weather:

“It was a good, hard and physical game and we had a lot of young kids playing in that game today that will be helped by a game like this. It will help them.

“But I can’t fault the effort from our guys today for sure. There were three or four players who were severely under the weather going into that game and they dug in and never hesitated and there were plenty of young kids so there was plenty to learn and plenty to be proud of.”

Frustratingly for Smith and Leeds, things haven’t gotten much better.

In fact, they have suffered another blow with Justin Sangare limping off.

On this, Smith revealed: “He’s got a suspected torn foot muscle.”

Leeds went into the game without Sam Walters. The Wigan Warriors bound prop was left out due to a leg injury as confirmed by the club when the team news was revealed on social media.

Leeds will be hoping Walters is back soon to lessen the blow of losing one of their key forwards and perhaps their most impactful off the bench.