Brad Arthur's scathingly honest Leeds Rhinos assessment hits nail on the head
Brad Arthur offered no excuses after Leeds Rhinos' humbling evening at Wigan Warriors, admitting his side were blown off the park by the Super League leaders. The Rhinos had no answer to Matt Peet's menn, who ran in seven unanswered tries to all but end Leeds' hopes of reaching the play-offs.
Leeds have improved considerably under Arthur, but this performance also showed just how far they still remain of the competition's best after they were bullied in a 38-0 reverse.
The Rhinos now need to Leeds to lose to St Helens next week and for Catalans to fall to defeat against either London Broncos or Hull FC, the competition's bottom two clubs, to have any chance of reaching the top six. That scenario would still require Leeds to beat Hull KR at Craven Park, who have won nine of their last ten matches.
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Speaking to Sky Sports after the game, Arthur admitted his side had simply been outplayed on the night.
"We can't take anything away from the opposition, they were way too good for us tonight. They were clinical and we didn't match them physically, they just beat us right across the park from one to seventeen.
"We had a poor start but I felt like we did well to fight our way back in. We just didn't get any field position but I think they dominated us physically and that's why we didn't get the field position. In the first half we didn't get one set that started in the opposition half, then the second half we got one early and turned it over tackle one. They were just too good for us."
With their destiny out of their control, Arthur said his side's focus would be on ending the season in a better manner than what they showed against the Warriors.
"I just want to see a better performance. It's out of our control now, what happens next week. What is in our control is our response to that, and that certainly wasn't how we want to finish our season. We were blown off the park physically and I'm not happy about that."
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