Leeds Rhinos vs Catalan Dragons Review

 Three wins, three losses. After such a positive pre-season the Rhinos have got off to the worst possible start. A 10-4 loss to the Catalan Dragons means the club find themselves alongside Wakefield, Toulouse and Castelford at the bottom of the Betfred Super league table.

Conditions on the night dictated that the game turned into a war of attrition rather than the spectacle of running rugby many hoped for. Both forward packs traded blows with the aim of gaining superiority. It was the rhinos who broke the deadlock after 20 minutes when Blake Austin once again was the first to cross the white line. Unlike against Wigan he crossed in rather fortuitous circumstances. Juggling the ball closed to the line he crawled his way over the line before any Catalan player could get their hands on him. Catalan hit back almost straight away with Fouad Yaha finishing off a Catalan move that swept across the width of the pitch.

What turned out to be the winning try was scored just after the start of the second half by young utility forward Joe Chan. Running a support line he was fed through a gap in the defence by a lovely short pass from Sam Kasiano who is more usually known for his hard running than soft hands. There was some contention in the try as what seemed to be a clear push on Liam Tindall as he tried to gather a kick which was ignored by the officials on the night.

Leeds tried in vain to find a score back in retaliation but a litany of errors and poor decision making in the final third meant that they were unable to find a way through. Perhaps unsurprisingly for the current season there was a card shown during the second half. Mitchell Pearce wrong footed by Liam Tindall threw out an arm and caught the young Leeds player in the head. There were no complaints from either side as he was shown a yellow card by referee Liam Moore.     Morgan Gannon came closest when he just wasn’t able to hold on to a short pass from Aidan Sezer as he burst through a gap in the defence left by the departed Pearce. 

Despite another disappointing defeat, there was a marked improvement in the Leeds defence compared to the previous week. This was perhaps aided by the conditions limiting Catalans ability to attack and also an injury to Sam Tomkins who is so important to how Catalans play.  Although they weren’t able to turn the pressure into points, both Austin and Sezer at times showed they have the ability to carve out scoring opportunities for the Rhinos. 

What was disappointing to see for Leeds fans on Thursday night was a lack of a clinical edge in the final third of the pitch. In the last 15 minutes of the match when Catalan were down to 12 men, Leeds failed to apply sustained pressure to the Catalan defence. As well as coughing up multiple chances, the Leeds halfbacks were guilty of not utilising fifth tackle options to force repeat sets or give players a chance of scoring.

Despite discontent among fans due to the poor start to the season, there were signs of improvement from previous weeks that the squad can look to take into the coming matches. After a tough start to the season Leeds now face two teams, Wakefield and Hull FC, who they beat in the pre season. They can also look forward to having several players returning including Rhyse Martin and David Fusitu’a.

Thank you for reading and remember All Leeds aren’t we.