YEP rugby league writer Peter Smith reflects on Leeds Rhinos' disappointing 2024 campaign.
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00:00So what to make of Lidrano's 2024 season? Obviously the first thing to say is it was
00:07bitterly disappointing. Again, to finish 8th for a second successive year isn't good enough
00:12for the eight-time champions and one of the undisputed big clubs in the game. Statistically
00:19it was a little bit better than last year believe it or not. They got 28 points which is four more
00:25than in 2023 and only one fewer than when they reached the grand final two years ago. That said,
00:33Leeds never really got hold of a place in the top six and they just left themselves too much to do
00:40when it came down to the last 10 games or so of the season under Brad Arthur. A few defeats cost
00:47them really. The loss at Salford when they were 12-0 up after five minutes, that was a big one
00:52and it was always going to be hard to come back from that. A few results went for them elsewhere
00:59and that kept them in the hunt but coming to the end of the season away games to finish off at
01:05Wigan and hold KR the top two, that was always going to be a little bit too much of a mountain
01:09to climb. There were some bad results earlier in the season that also proved costly. For example,
01:14losing at home to Huddersfield when again they had more than a 10-point lead a couple of times
01:21in the game. They lost at Hull FC, a team who finished second from bottom and only won three
01:29games all season. That was another really costly defeat. Leeds were in front in a lot of games and
01:33just couldn't manage to hold on so game management is something that will have to be looked at by
01:39Brad Arthur over the pre-season. He's actually got the players in this time for a couple of weeks
01:46before they go on their off-season break which is an unusual departure for Leeds. It's not
01:51what they normally do but he said they should be training at this time of the year anyway
01:55for playoffs so he's going to keep them in and give them a taste of what to expect
02:00over the months before the season starts again in February. It's going to be a long,
02:04tough pre-season for Leeds. I expect to see probably three new faces in the squad on top
02:11of the one that's already been announced which is Ryan Hall. Hopefully it will be a stronger squad
02:15next season but there's a lot resting on who spotting director Ian Blees can bring in. I'm
02:21certainly going to miss Rhys Martin who was one of Leeds' top two players this season along with
02:27Ash Hanley, the only Leeds player who got into the Dream Team. He's going to hulk out and he's
02:31going to be missed not just for his goalkeeping but his general play so it's a big off-season
02:36coming up for Leeds Rhinos because this club is too big to be missing out on the playoffs
02:40on a consistent basis. They've been eighth the last two seasons, they have to do better next year,
02:46they have to get back not just into the top six but into the top four and at the moment
02:50that looks quite some distance off so a big pre-season coming up.