Brad Arthur slams Leeds Rhinos’ players ‘respect’ despite victory with Jake Connor assessment made
Brad Arthur is facing the loss of another key player.
Leeds Rhinos coach Brad Arthur refused to be upbeat despite watching his side run in seven tries to beat Castleford Tigers: hitting out at his players’ lack of respect for themselves and their opponents.
The Rhinos made it back-to-back Super League victories to move into the top six in the early stages of the new campaign, with an injury-hit Leeds side having more than enough to see off Danny McGuire’s side at AMT Headingley.
Leading 34-6 before the hour mark, the Rhinos eased off in the final quarter, with Castleford scoring three late tries to add some respectability to the final scoreline, with Leeds winning 38-24.
And Arthur was as demanding of his players as ever post-match, insisting the performance was disappointing and his players weren’t good enough.
He said: “I’m very disappointed in that performance. The last 20 minutes wasn’t good enough. We showed some composure and professionalism for 60 minutes and then lost respect for ourselves and the opposition. It’s not the style of footy I want to play.
“It was always going to be hard having lost our 7, 6 and 13 (Matt Frawley, Brodie Croft and Cameron Smith): the three guys who handle the ball the most. They scrambled well and pulled us down short but we didn’t lose any composure. We stuck to the plan and knew we’d be hard to handle physically and we’d fall over the line.”
Jake Connor was given man of the match by Sky after another impressive showing at fullback but once again, Arthur admitted he is looking for more from the Great Britain international.
“He’s doing a lot of good things but he’s got to learn that when things are going well, the pretty stuff doesn’t interest me,” he said. “I don’t want pretty players, I want tough players. He’s slowly learning and he’s getting better but we tried to be too pretty and fluffy at the end of the game.”
Leeds now face a difficult run of games with Catalans, St Helens and Wigan in their next three. And Arthur insisted: “We need to be better than that today otherwise there’s no point showing up. We’ll be going hard at the boys in review and watching nothing but the last 20 minutes.”
MORE REACTION: Takeaways as Leeds Rhinos get better of Castleford Tigers at Headingley
