CALLUM WALKER reviews the 2025 season of Leeds Rhinos.

The hope

2024 had been a year of transition, from the sacking of Rohan Smith to the arrival of Brad Arthur, Leeds Rhinos had improved in the final few months of the season. But 2025 was to be the real test. 

With a full pre-season under his belt, and signings such as Ryan Hall, Keenan Palasia, Cooper Jenkins, Jake Connor and Maika Sivo, there was optimism around Headingley that was almost palpable.

The reality

To be fair to Leeds, there was a vast improvement in their performances and they ended up finishing fourth on the Super League ladder with 18 wins from 27 games. 

The play-offs beckoned and there was a real chance the Rhinos could have made it to Old Trafford if it hadn’t have been for a miraculous, last-gasp try by St Helens in a play-off decider.

Jake Connor was superb for his new side, scooping up the Steve Prescott Man of Steel award and then somehow being left out of the England squad for the Ashes. 

But fellow recruit Maika Sivo missed the entirety of the season with a cruel ACL injury suffered in pre-season.

Much of the discussion during the campaign was dominated by Brad Arthur’s future, with the ex-Parramatta coach only having signed a one-year deal. In the end, he put pen to paper on a new deal as Leeds fans’ hope of trophies in the near future rose once more.

Best players

None other than Jake Connor was the Rhinos’ player of the season. Signed from Huddersfield, where he had endured a difficult 2024, Connor didn’t even have a starting role at the beginning of the year. 

Trialled in the centres, in the halves and at fullback, the 30-year-old ended up making the number 7 shirt his own. In 28 games, Connor registered eight tries, made a further 30 and kicked 93 goals in the season of his life.

Fellow new signing Keenan Palasia also took to Super League like a duck to water, whilst fullback Lachie Miller was irrepressible at times, topping the tackle busts chart with 184 and making 4,115 metres, the only Super League player to exceed 4,000 metres. 

Jarrod O’Connor topped the Super League tackle count, becoming the only player to make more than 1,000 tackles with his figure of 1,044. 

A special mention should also go to youngster Presley Cassell, who debuted and did not look out of place in the front-row at such a high level.

In quotes

“Our first thoughts are with Maika and we will all get round him and give him and his family our support. Our medical team will make sure he has the best possible treatment to come back from the injury as soon as possible. Maika is a strong character and I am sure he will throw himself into his recovery to get back to his best.” Brad Arthur after Maika Sivo was ruled out for the full campaign with an ACL injury in a pre-season game against Wigan.

“It was not really difficult (to leave Connor out). He’s a very, very good player, Jake, no doubt about that. I spoke to him in the week and he’s going to be available for the World Cup next year. When I’m picking a squad, the thing you will never hear from me is ‘he’s won the Man of Steel he needs to be in’.” Shaun Wane on leaving out Jake Connor for the Ashes despite his superb year for Leeds.

“I’m shattered for the players who have worked their backside off all year and invested so much into that performance. I am shattered for our fans who have invested so much into our team. It’s a cruel game sometimes and I don’t think we deserve for it to end like that, but it did and we have to deal with it. It is going to be a tough pill to swallow for a while, but it is going to have to make us better.” Brad Arthur was visibly emotional after Leeds’ heartbreaking 16-14 loss to St Helens in the play-off eliminator.

In numbers

4,115 metres made by Lachie Miller throughout the course of the season.

310 points conceded by Leeds was the second-lowest in Super League.

1,044 tackles made by Jarrod O’Connor during the league campaign – the highest in Super League.

Highlight

Two wins over Hull KR – at home and away – late on in the season epitomised Leeds’ chances of going all the way whilst the new contract for Brad Arthur was another step in the right direction.

Lowlight

A 16-8 home loss to Catalans Dragons in Round 26 probably cost Leeds third place on the Super League table. 

The French side had been below par for the majority of the campaign, so when they rocked up to Headingley, no one gave them a chance. However, the Dragons had other ideas and the Rhinos fell to a shock defeat. 

The last-minute 16-14 loss to St Helens in the play-off eliminator will probably still haunt the players involved in that quite remarkable ending.