Leeds Rhinos have been embarrassed in the first half against Leigh Leopards.
They have found themselves 16-0 down at the break against Adrian Lam’s side with the good will from the Leeds Rhinos defeating Catalans Dragons last week totally gone.
They haven’t laid a glove on the Leopards in the first half and on Sky Sports, Leeds Rhinos legend Jamie Jones-Buchanan accused Leeds of a lack of urgency and asking too many questions of the official.
He said: “Yeah, lack of urgency, just confusion and look, that’s the difference for me. Leigh get the ball, we want to play, let’s have it here, let’s attack.
“You can’t start asking questions at referee, you’ve got to get on the goal line you’ve got to defend really quick and look at some of the inside pressure here sweeping round, O’Brien just splits open, Croft and Newman like Moses through the red sea there and it’s just a great fantastic try.”
Jamie Jones-Buchanan hopeful Leeds Rhinos can turn things around
He did go on to add that he feels Leeds have a good temperament and could turn it around: “They’ve got a really level temperament of Leeds, they’re not going to be too disappointed. If the scoreline was the other way around, they wouldn’t be too excited either. They’re going to come out and they’ll carry on playing in the philosophical nature of Brown’s midfield as you’ve just spoken before the game. That’s how they approach a game though, but we’ve got to check it now, no conflict.”
Jodie Cunningham added: “Look, Leeds know what they can do. They’ve flipped all the stats, they’ve had more possession and they’ve had the ball more in the right position but they’ve just not been able to do it. Leeds, when they’ve had their opportunities, they’ve took it, they’ve had intensity, they’ve had speed and possession. Look, Leeds can come back from this, they know that they can do.”
Leeds will have to be a lot better in the second half if they want to get a third win from their opening four but for their fans that first half was worryingly reminiscent of last year and the disappointment of 2023.
