Leeds Rhinos coach Brian McDermott insists he sees plenty of differences in his side between last year’s post-Wembley slump and the two defeats they’ve suffered after this year’s Challenge Cup win.
The Rhinos infamously lost all their games after Wembley last year to end the season on a low after the high of winning the cup, and after two defeats in a row following the cup final this year, McDermott was quick to point out he thinks there are plenty of differences between the two groups.
He did, however, address last weekend’s defeat in Perpignan to Catalans – which he said was the worst his side have played for three seasons.
“The performance we put in against Catalans wasn’t what we wanted at this point in the year – but at some stage of the season you’re going to be off, you’re going to be terrible,” he said. “If you’re pragmatic about it you realise it’ll be during the season, but you didn’t want it to happen now.
“It’s a concern because that’s the worst we’ve played for three years. But at the same time we don’t have to unearth or dig too deep to find where we were two weeks ago – which was a brilliant Wembley performance.
“There’s enough differences between this year and last, and I’m comfortable where we are – although we realise we need to deal with that performance from last week.”
