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Every win results in the same amount of points and every round in Super League has the same level of importance attached to it. But as the Leeds Rhinos players punched the air in jubilation at full-time here, you could not escape the fact that this was a statement result on a significant weekend for the whole competition.
With 10 rounds to go, Super League had threatened to become a tad dull at the top. Hull KR and Wigan, considered the best two teams by a distance, were streaking away towards the playoffs with few giving anyone else a chance of beating either in a semi-final to make Old Trafford.
But the events of the last 72 hours have changed things in that regard. On Friday, fourth-placed Leigh defeated the champions to bring the race for the top two to life once again – and here, against the odds, Leeds underlined how this year’s title picture consists of at least four teams.
The development the Rhinos have made under Brad Arthur in just 12 months has been remarkable. Super League’s most successful club have finished eighth in each of the last two years but Arthur has dragged this Leeds side back into the competition’s upper echelons.
There was one nagging doubt left: could they do it in games where the margins are razor thin? Here, at the home of the runaway league leaders, they silenced that doubt once and for all.
Make no mistake about it, Leeds are bona fide title contenders in 2025, and the try which settled a contest that would befit any Grand Final was of the highest quality. The Rhinos trailed 8-0 at half-time; it could and perhaps should have been more but for an unusual lack of precision in attack from Rovers.
But the withdrawal of the reigning Man of Steel, Mikey Lewis, with a concussion on the half-hour mark was decisive. Without him Rovers did not score another point and, in truth, they didn’t even come close. “You expect it to look different but not totally different,” Hull KR’s coach, Willie Peters, said of Lewis’s absence.
And it left the door ajar for Leeds to respond. A wonderful solo finish from Sam Lisone coupled with two goals from Jake Connor, whose absence from the latest England squad this week is perplexing to say the least, made it 8-8 in the blink of an eye.
But this Rovers defence, the meanest in Super League, would need unlocking again, and you always felt it would take something special to do so. With 10 minutes to go, Lachie Miller fielded a ball from deep and Leeds chanced their arm, going wide on the very first play.
The ball passed through no fewer than six sets of hands, including Connor’s, with the decisive offload coming from the half-back to Miller, who scored under the posts for what could be the try of the season. Without Lewis, there never really felt much chance of a Rovers comeback and suddenly, the landscape at the top feels different.
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Finishing in the top two comes with huge advantages come the playoffs; the opening weekend off, plus a home semi-final to boot. Hull KR will still likely finish top but beneath them, there is some battle developing for second spot.
Wigan have 26 points, Leeds are just two back and Leigh one behind them. Had the two big games of the weekend gone the other way, we could have been limping towards an uninspiring final 10 rounds. Now, the season feels very much alive.
And so too do Leeds’ hopes of keeping Arthur beyond this year. He has repeatedly insisted he is torn between returning to his family in Australia and sticking with Leeds in 2026. A decision is looming on that front. “I absolutely love the place,” Arthur said. “That win helps [potentially committing in 2026].”
But whether he stays or goes next year, it feels increasingly likely that Leeds will once again be in the conversation for the title under him this year.
