“Time for change?” – Fans and media react as Leeds Rhinos are nilled in France again

Leeds Rhinos were dealt another blow to their playoff push as they lost to Catalans Dragons in the heat of Perpignan, and that 26-0 loss has ramped up the heat on head coach Rohan Smith.

A win would have meant that the Rhinos had completed the double over Catalans by Round Eleven of the season but in truth, that never looked likely with Leeds putting in a sub-par performance.

The defeat also means that Leeds are still yet to string three wins together this season, another contributing factor towards the growing calls of concern from fans about the tenure of head coach Rohan Smith.

Smith took Leeds Rhinos to Old Trafford in his maiden campaign after taking over with the club in 11th but since then inconsistency has been the hallmark of the Rhinos and that was proven again today.

Leeds Rhinos hammered by the media after being nilled in France

The first-half showing was among the worst performances of the season by the reckoning of Sky Sports pundits Jon Wells and Jon Wilkin with the pair in shock over what they had seen.

Wilkin went in on both sides in fact, stating: “Quite simply, the opening 20 minutes of that game displayed to me exactly why neither of these teams can go and do anything this year. Because it was a joke.”

The reaction from those closer to home and the city of Leeds specifically was just as strong with The Yorkshire Evening Post hammering the Rhinos players in the outlet’s traditional ‘Player Ratings’ piece.

Lachie Miller has been one of the team’s star performers this season but he did now show himself in the best light with the YEP calling him out for a “disastrous start with four errors in the opening quarter”.

Miller’s performance didn’t escape the scope of Jon Wilkin either who took aim in surprisingly sympathetic fashion initially, before claiming that each and every one of Miller’s first-half efforts led to an error.

In his half-time analysis, the ex-Saints skipper said: “Bless him, he’ll want to forget that half of rugby because I don’t think I’ve seen a half of rugby where every single contribution made was an error. I’m not exaggerating.”

He would go on to quantify that the issues weren’t just Miller’s fault, claiming that the Australian was merely a “symptom” of the dysfunctional side.

“He’s a symptom of Leeds. The new signings, it’s not all on them. There’s a bigger story here at Leeds, it’s that through the middle of the field, they’re soft, and they don’t compete at all defensively. They’ve got nobody who’s got a bit of dog in them and who’s going to go and hit somebody.

“Mickey McIlorum does that for a living. Where is Leeds’ junkyard dog? I don’t see any spirit in there.”

Have Rhinos fans seen enough of Rohan Smith?

The lack of spirit was something that several fans were left questioning but one person whom plenty were left questioning was Rohan Smith with Leeds Rhinos once again heading home from the South of France after a humiliating defeat.

Last year it was a 61-0 loss but arguably the nature of today’s performance was just as bad with Catalans incredibly sloppy themselves, but merely better than the woeful Rhinos.

Leeds Rhinos’ social media team took plenty of stick too after their match report on X captioned: “Injury ravaged Rhinos lose out in Perpignan” garnered plenty of attention.

One fan reacted: “‘Injury ravaged’ isn’t a valid excuse. We were absolutely clueless. No direction. No spark. Please leave Rohan Smith and Matt Fraudley in France, so we can try to salvage something from this season.”

‘Injury ravaged’ isn’t a valid excuse. We were absolutely clueless. No direction. No spark. Please leave Rohan Smith and Matt Fraudley in France, so we can try to salvage something from this season.

— Another Dave 🔥 (@DaveSinners) May 11, 2024

As evidenced by that commenter, Rohan Smith was a man that was at the centre of many fan’s complaints with the club’s final score graphic posted on X receiving similar replies.

“Sacked in the morning” was the sentiment of one fan, whilst several others also alluded to the notion of “leaving the coaching staff in France”.

Should Leeds Rhinos fans be careful what they wish for though? After all, they are just two points outside the playoffs and four off top spot. With injuries to key players including three of the club’s quota players in Brodie Croft, David Fusitu’a and Paul Momirovski, surely some sympathy should be afforded to Rohan Smith and his coaching staff.

Despite that, fans still maintained for a change with Jason Demetriou’s name thrown into the hat by some, however, one former fan favourite at Headingley has claimed that Rohan Smith is doing a “good job”. Those were the thoughts of Matt Adamson who spoke exclusively with Serious About Rugby League about his former club.

Leeds Rhinos will make full use of the week off before returning to Super League action, and hopefully for their sake winning ways, when they face St Helens but after that an easier gauntlet of Castleford Tigers, Hull FC, Leigh Leopards and London Broncos faces them.

The question on many Rhinos fans over the break will be ‘Time for a change’ or ‘Stick it and see’ with those next five games pivotal to the club’s playoff hopes.