LEEDS RHINOS head coach Brad Arthur could only sit back and say in despair: “It’s a cruel game sometimes.”

Just a couple of seconds from a place in the Super League play-off semi-finals, a last-gasp penalty and then a miracle try saw St Helens steal it from them in the most cruel fashion imaginable.

Arthur said afterwards: “It’s shattering. Not for me, I’m shattered for the players. They worked their backsides off all year and invested so much into that performance.

“It’s a cruel game sometimes. We didn’t deserve for it to end like that but it did and we have to deal it.

“It’s going to be a tough pill to swallow for a while, but it’s going to have to make us better.

“We worked extremely hard to put ourselves in a position to win the game and we should have.

“We shouldn’t have been relying on that last play. I’m a bit lost for words, except that I’m extremely proud of the group.

“Sometimes you don’t get what you deserve, but that’s life. we have to use that as fuel.”

Leeds were the better side for the majority of the tie and never looked like losing until Shane Wright’s try.

“The whole way through that game I felt like we were in total control,” added Arthur.

“We moved the ball well, we defended our tryline really well. Our response to penalties was good, we kept turning them away.

“We got a couple of opportunities down there, we had a try overturned.

“We just needed a bit of luck and we were short of that.”