Leeds Rhinos ‘nowhere near the standard’ in Wakefield defeat as Rohan Smith looks for answers
Photo: Mark Cosgrove/News Images
Leeds Rhinos coach Rohan Smith made no excuses for his side’s defeat at Wakefield, labelling it as a ‘huge disappointment’ and ‘nowhere near the standard’.
Wakefield picked up their first win of the Super League season on Sunday afternoon as they beat the Rhinos 24-14 at Belle Vue.
The score was 10-10 at half-time but Wakefield pulled clear in the second half, albeit a man down after debutant Hugo Salabio was sent off for a tip tackle on Richie Myler four minutes into the second half.
Speaking after the game, Smith admitted there was hurt for both himself and the players in the dressing room after the full-time hooter.
He said: “It’s a huge disappointment.
“Today it was unforced errors in open space that let us down. We made quite a few in-roads in that second half but didn’t finish them off. We’ll change things and improve, a lot.
“We just didn’t play well enough. Collectively and individually we were nowhere near the standard.
“There’s a lot of hurt and disappointment both for me personally and in the dressing room. It’s not close to the standard so we’ve got to find it quick.”
Leeds Rhinos need to ‘fight’ to turn season around
The Rhinos, who played in last year’s Super League Grand Final against champions St Helens, currently find themselves in eighth position in the Super League table, having only won six from 15 games this season as well as being knocked out of the Challenge Cup.
It doesn’t matter what the sport, whether you’re looking for Super League markets or at NFL betting odds, that kind of record puts you under pressure, but Smith certainly isn’t about to give up the right.
Smith added: “We can choose to fight or we can choose to tap out now.
“There’s only one solution, and that is to fight.”
The Rhinos have a week off this week due to the Challenge Cup quarter-finals taking place at the weekend. Their next game is against rivals Huddersfield on Friday, June 23 (8pm).
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