Leeds Rhinos saw their 2025 season end in the ‘cruellest’ way possible and the post-mortem has already began as to how they managed to clutch defeat from the jaws of victory.
The Rhinos had one foot in the Super League semi-finals, they even led 14-12 as the final hooter sounded but a penalty given away on the halfway line offered St Helens one final chance.
Paul Wellens side made use of that chance, scoring a try that will live long in the memory to secure a famous 16-14 win, marking their fourth win over the Rhinos in 2025 but more importantly, to book a semi-final against Hull KR.
Saints’ attack was described as ‘shocking’ until that incredible final play but Leeds’ performance has now been broken down and there really wasn’t too much that they did wrong.
Sky Sports pundits Jon Wilkin and Sam Tomkins had their say post-match as they tried to break down where it went wrong for Leeds Rhinos, with Tomkins pointing to an inability to break Saints down but also conceding that Brad Arthur’s side didn’t do ‘too much wrong’.
“It wasn’t a great performance for a moment,” Tomkins said, adding: “I’m not saying they were outstanding, but I don’t think Leeds were particularly bad tonight. I thought they had a decent game.
“They looked like they were going to win for 80 minutes and past it, so I’m not sure what the post-mortem from tonight will be because they probably just need to be a little bit better in attack, but you can’t prepare for what they’ve got.”
Leeds Rhinos ‘a bit sloppy’ as penalty error noted
Tomkins is right in that you cannot possibly prepare for such a try and he also highlighted that it wasn’t a result of Leeds’ effort levels dipping, with Saints finding their space out wide on the left as a result of Harry Robertson’s magic and a Tristan Sailor flick pass.
He explained: “The reason there was so much space on the other side of the field for Saints to score was because every single Leeds player was scrambling to where we all thought the threat was.
“Harry Robertson’s beat seven on his own, there’s not that many left, so the fact that there was so much space when they did score is testament to how hard that Leeds side were working right at the end.”
Jon Wilkin looked to how the final play could have been avoided, outlining that the Rhinos switched off to give the penalty away.
The former Saints man said: “They were just a little bit sloppy to get it done and unlucky as well. The penalty they give in the last seconds is just unfortunate, but it’s avoidable.
“It was touched by Leeds and they’re offside so if you let Saints pick that ball up, it’s game over. Instead, they dive on the ball, that’s a penalty, so I just think their concentration when it was really under the blowtorch fell short tonight.”
SAINTS HAVE DONE IT! 😮
Shane Wright wins it for St Helens, leaving Leeds stunned! 👀 pic.twitter.com/EJc185PE00
— Sky Sports Rugby League (@SkySportsRL) September 27, 2025
Did Leeds’ season unravel with Round 26 defeat to Catalans?
With the result now in the history hooks and Leeds’ season over, it marks the start of an incredibly long off-season and that’s something Wilkin honed in on.
“That’s the cruellest way to end the season,” he argued, noting: “That’s a cruel way to end a league game, but to now stew on that for four months, the what could have been’s, the moments that mattered and that got away.
“All those tiny details that will be etched on the players’ minds and Brad Arthur’s minds for four months now. It’s a cruel way to finish and the elation that Saints will have from it is matched by the devastation from the Leeds players.”
Whilst Wilkin had pointed to the penalty as where Leeds’ season unravelled, host Brian Carney went back further as he pointed to the home defeat to Catalans in Round 26, a defeat that cost Leeds any hope of finishing third, or even second.
He argued: “That Catalan Dragons defeat in round 26 was a setback of enormous proportions for the Leeds Rhinos.”
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