Leeds Rhinos coach Brian McDermott has stressed that his playing squad are “pumped” – despite finding themselves at the bottom of the table.
The reigning Super League champions already know that they will be fighting it out for survival in the Qualifiers after last weekend’s defeat to Widnes.
And whilst McDermott insisted that the predicament they find themselves in is not great, the players are “pumped and on board” with everything happening.
“Everybody speaks to me like I’ve got a long-term illness and they are speaking to the squad like we’ve been given six weeks to live,” said McDermott, who also insisted his group is in “good shape”.
“It is not great what’s happening, but – I don’t think I am contradicting anything I’ve said all year – we are in good shape.
“There’s things that have happened to us this year, some things we could have done better and some things we will learn from and we will get better at, but there are other things that have happened we have absolutely no control over.
“We will go through and review it, but at the end of it we are in good shape. The players are keen, they are pumped and on board.”
