According to Sky Sports analyst Jon Wilkin, Leeds Rhinos are the architects of their own demise. The team’s inadequate defensive strategy was evident once more when they were crushed 40–10 by St Helens.
After being destroyed by the Catalans Dragons in Perpignan the previous time out, Rohan Smith’s team suffered their second consecutive wide scoreline loss.
It was also the team’s fourth defeat in the previous six games; the only victories came against Hull FC and the London Broncos, who are ranked 12th and 11th, respectively. With calls for Rohan Smith to resign from his position growing—and one former Super League match official echoing those calls—it’s safe to say that alarm bells are ringing at Headingley.
Comparing Rohan Smith to Manchester United coach Erik Ten Hag, Richard Silverwood begged Gary Hetherington to end Smith’s employment with the team, saying neither man was worthy of positions at such illustrious organisations.
Regarding Wilkin, however, he was really discussing the problems facing the Leeds Rhinos prior to the game, and looking back, it seems as though he had a crystal ball because his assessment and the actual performance were uncannily similar.
He bemoaned the Rhinos’ “passive” defensive approach in a pregame interview on Sky Sports, saying, “It’s just an incredibly passive way to defend.” They give way but do not shatter. Line breaks are their obsession. It’s passive, but the optics aren’t shocking.
It’s a bad first contact. It’s a retreat by all. Teams can just breeze through when you don’t dictate to them the tempo or level of intensity of the match.
He even implied that it’s a Rohan Smith plot, saying that it occurs “too frequently, for it not to be discussed” as their intentional methodology.
They have soft players that don’t want to defend, and as a team they are a soft defensive unit, thus I believe the reason for this is that they are all being coached to defend in this manner.
“Staying buried in your own half all the time makes it very hard to score points and win games. We speak about how they’re kicking crossfield in their own twenty, but that’s only because they’re stuck there.
Wilkin would then use statistics to support his claims. He would say that Leeds Rhinos are heading towards 1,900 run metres given up, which the former captain of St Helens claimed was almost a guarantee that a club would lose.
“The basic fact is that you will lose a game if you give up 1900 running metres.”
They’re just placing themselves in a situation where they will be exposed and defeated by a strong team if they continue to act in that manner.
As it happened, Leeds Rhinos gave up 1,832 run metres yesterday night, which was six times more than they were able to muster in Saints territory. They also gave up an incredible 37 play-balls within their own 20 metres.
One of Wilkin’s pre-game remarks, “They’re being told ‘Don’t concede line breaks because line breaks mean point,’ well I’m telling them that conceding metres means losing games,” is highlighted by those data.
Leeds missed more than twice as many tackles (45 to 20) as St Helens did as a result of their style of play, which also caused their passive defence and high number of sets on their own line to become worn out. This panicked the attack, which saw a completion percentage of only 68% as opposed to St Helens’ impressive 96%.
To put it plainly, Leeds Rhinos need a new defensive scheme if they are to qualify for the postseason. Their performance in the last six games has shown that they are not competitive until they are against a side in the bottom two.
