Leeds Rhinos boss Brad Arthur was full of praise for player of the match Kallum Watkins following his side’s victory over Leigh Leopards.
In a high-scoring game, it was the Rhinos who came out on top with a 48-30 victory, taking them above the Leopards in the Super League table.
Speaking to Sky Sports after the match, Arthur said he was pleased with how his side bounced back from last week’s defeat against St Helens.
He said: “I think we went after the game. It would’ve been a very exciting match for the fans in the end, and sometimes, in these sorts of high-scoring games, you want your team to be ruthless and defend well.
“Sometimes that’s hard when teams are backing themselves. They’ve got a lot of good players as well. There was a lot of good skill on show out there tonight.
“There are some defensive things that we need to fix up, but overall, we’ve come here to respond and get the two points.”
Whilst he wanted his side to fix their defensive errors, he was happy for the win and how his side stuck with their style of play.
He added: “The result is hugely important, but it was more about our performance and playing our style of footy.
“At least we went after the game. It wasn’t a reactive effort, I thought it was really front-loaded and went after the contest, and I think it was a pretty exciting game of footy.”
Arthur on Leeds Rhinos veteran’s high-quality performance
Player of the match Kallum Watkins put in a performance that Leeds fans have gotten used to since his return to the club, playing some of the best rugby of his career.
The Leeds Rhinos coach was happy to give him his flowers too, stating that it’s easy to coach players such as Watkins and Ryan Hall, two players part of the recent DNA and successes at the club.
He said: “He adds a real level of quality and class, doesn’t he? Guys like him and Hall, I don’t have to spend any time with them, I can just give them the message, and let them play the way they want to play.
“Then I can spend a bit more time with the guys that lack that bit of experience.
“His leadership, his presence, he doesn’t have to say much, the boys just know he’s in the team, and he gives them a good level of confidence.”
Arthur admitted that whilst there were a few errors that needed to be fixed, he is learning on the job how to be content sometimes with just taking the two points and a decent performance from his players.
He finished: “I have to learn as a coach that we’ve come here to do a job, we’ve got the win.
“They’re hard to get, and on the back of last week, we were disappointed.
“The skill was good tonight, and we did some really good things, so I think I need to focus on that, but we know that we need to be better next week defensively.”
What a game! These two haven’t met for over a year, we can’t wait for the next one already, 14 tries in total and incredible skill! The Rhinos are back in third spot
FULL TIME
Rhinos 48 – 30 Leopards
🤝 In partnership #Anchor #ButtertheFoodButtertheMood pic.twitter.com/iLDkfQ4FZs— Leeds Rhinos (@leedsrhinos) June 27, 2025
Super League Disciplinary News
Every Super League player’s disciplinary record after latest charges
