Super League 2020 Preview - Leeds Rhinos

Leeds Rhinos enter the 2020 season on the back of a disappointing 2019. It was hard to believe that the team that took to the field for much of last year was just two years on from winning its eighth Super League Grand Final. If Castleford can be accused of being in decline since the two met in the 2017 Old Trafford showpiece, the Rhinos have fallen off the edge of a cliff.

All of which is nothing new to them. Who can forget the 2015 treble winners’ abject attempts at defending their crown in 2016? That campaign culminated in an embarrassing flirtation with relegation in the old middle eights system . The ‘R’ word was on the lips of many observers throughout 2019 also, but a late season revival ensured that the Headingley club finished in a just about respectable eighth place.

The turmoil began early. Head coach David Furner lasted just six months, a spell which took in only 14 league games. Furner had overseen victories in only four of those, a run that had left the Rhinos languishing in 10th place by the start of May. Richard Agar came into fill the void left by Furner, signing a 12-month rolling deal in September after a period as interim boss in which the Rhinos won seven of the 14 league games they played. That was enough to secure their Super League survival and to convince the Rhinos hierarchy to put their faith in the much maligned Agar, albeit somewhat tentatively judging by the length of the contract.

Whoever was taking the reins would have been tasked with a rebuilding job for 2020. Agar has seen more players pass through the exit than through the entrance, but has strengthened in key areas. The eye-catching arrival is that of former Tigers and England scrum half Luke Gale. He has struggled badly with his fitness over the last year or two but if he can stay healthy he is among the better halves in the competition. Joining him will be the exciting former Huddersfield Giants hooker Kruise Leeming and another former Giant in the shape of back rower Alex Mellor. Yet perhaps the most influential addition to the pack will be prop forward Matt Prior. The 32-year-old has spent the last six seasons with Cronulla Sharks in the NRL and was part of their 2016 Grand Final winning team. With Brad Singleton one of those to depart in the off season there will be a lot of responsibility on the shoulders of Prior to give Leeds the go-forward they need. He will be ably assisted by Ava Seumanufagai and offload machine Adam Cuthbertson while Rhyse Martin is that rarest of beasts, the goal-kicking forward. Yet among that group you get the feeling that it is Prior whom they will look to for consistency. After many years blighted by injury, newly appointed captain Stevie Ward will hope to stay fit enough for long enough to have a real influence there also.

Leeming will take the place of Matt Parcell who joins Hull KR, though the former Giant will perhaps share playing time with the explosive Brad Dwyer. That means no room in the squad for Shaun Lunt who makes the move down to the Championship with Batley Bulldogs. Gale gives Agar options in the halves with Robert Lui, Liam Sutcliffe and Richie Myler still at the club. Mellor will beef up the pack after Agar released Nathaniel Peteru, lost Jamie Jones-Buchanan and Carl Ablett to retirement and saw Singleton head to Toronto Wolfpack to play under former Rhinos coach Brian McDermott. Brett Ferress is another old stager of the Rhinos forward pack to depart as he moves on to Featherstone Rovers. Youngster Owen Trout has gone to Ferres’ old stomping ground at Huddersfield while the Giants have also picked up fullback Ashton Golding.

Golding’s loss should not be felt too keenly with Jack Walker getting better with each passing year. He sits behind a three-quarter line featuring the tried and tested talents of Tom Briscoe, Konrad Hurrell and Ash Handley, with the promising Harry Newman likely to see a lot of game time at centre.

Breaking down the stats on 2019 shows clearly where improvement is required. Only Saints and Castleford made more metres than the Rhinos in 2019, only Saints made more clean breaks and nobody had a better average gain per carry than the Rhinos’ 7.48 metres, or made more than their 387 offloads. They also led the way in runs from dummy half with Dwyer mostly responsible for their 603 occasions on which they darted out from the play-the-ball. Yet none of that translated to quite as much in the way of try-scoring as you might imagine. Four clubs bettered the Rhinos’ tally of 114 tries but of the seven teams above them in the league table only Hull FC and Catalans Dragons conceded more points. Leeds’ points difference of +6 says something about their inconsistent nature. They were as likely to concede as to score a try at any time.

If the Headingley club are going to be a genuine contender in 2020 then a better start to the season would be helpful. No more going four from their first 14. Hull FC are the visitors to Headingley in round 1 on February 2 before the trip to Huddersfield Giants a week later. Round 3 brings down-on-their-luck relegation favourites Hull KR to West Yorkshire on Valentine’s Night before a February 22 clash with 2019 Grand Finalists Salford Red Devils at the AJ Bell Stadium on February 22. That game could be a significant pointer to whether this Leeds side can mix it with the other playoff hopefuls. Round 5 brings a home clash with Warrington Wolves on February 28 which should also tell us plenty about Leeds’ prospects this term.

At the risk of looking very silly come the end of the season I am going to suggest that 2020 will be a much better season for Leeds. Their recruitment looks smart without being overly showy, and Agar is a shrewd coach who will be determined to prove himself as a real high quality leader of an elite Super League club rather than someone who provokes groans from his home fans as news of his appointment breaks. It probably will not end with a trip to Old Trafford, although that would be the kind of turnaround in form from one year to the next that we have seen before from Leeds. Yet I expect the Rhinos to be well in the hunt for a playoff place and maybe just about sneak into that top five come the end of the regular season.