BRAD ARTHUR felt Leeds Rhinos only had themselves to blame for their last-gasp defeat at Wakefield Trinity.
Mason Lino’s field-goal in the final seconds earned the hosts a 15-14 win after Leeds briefly led by six points deep in a second half which saw both Jake Connor and Alfie Edgell forced off with injuries.
Coach Arthur said: “I’m extremely proud of their effort and their physicality. The fight and desire was all there.
“We defended our tryline for what seemed to be all night, but when you give a quality team that many chances, at some stage they’ll come away with it.
“We did well to come in (for half-time) at 8-all without being in the game.
“We had no field position. We had four play-the-balls inside their 20 (metres) and scored two tries.
“In the second half we handed them too much cheap possession. They didn’t have to work hard enough for it.
“We worked hard to get our field position and when we got it we scored. We’ve got to learn from that.”
Connor came off early in the second period and subsequently failed a head-injury assessment.
The split round means Leeds don’t play again until Thursday, August 7 at Leigh Leopards, and Connor will be able to feature should he pass the return-to-play protocols in time.
Arthur said of the halfback’s withdrawal: “It doesn’t help you but it’s not an excuse for us not getting the job done in the second half.
“Jake can’t control us turning the ball over out of our red zone. I don’t think it mattered a great deal.”
Winger Edgell was brought off in the closing stages with a foot injury and Arthur said: “It got progressively worse to the stage where he couldn’t run.
“We don’t know if it’s (damaged) ligaments or a fracture but he’ll have to have a scan.”