BRAD ARTHUR stressed it’s business as usual for Leeds Rhinos despite the magnitude of Saturday’s ‘winner takes all’ clash at home to Wigan Warriors.
The sides are level on 40 points from 25 games, with the Rhinos top of the table on points difference alone, meaning the winner of the fixture is likely to go on to lift the League Leaders’ Shield.
Leeds haven’t done that since 2015, when Ryan Hall’s last-gasp try handed them a dramatic 20-16 win at Huddersfield Giants on the final day of the season to beat Wigan to the minor premiership.
And whilst excitement is undoubtedly bubbling ahead of the fixture, which will be played in front of a sold-out crowd at AMT Headingley, Arthur insisted nothing will change in his side’s preparation.
He said: “The occasion will look after itself with all the excitement; you can already feel it, it just feels different. Everyone is upbeat and excited.
“You have your pre-season – we had our camp in Tenerife – and you talk about all those wonderful dreams and all the things that you want to try and achieve and set those targets.
“Unfortunately for the majority of the teams in the competition, those don’t become reality, and I’ve been part of that plenty of times.
“But this is the reality right now for us and Wigan, and winner takes all.
“We’ve worked hard to get ourselves in this position. I’ve maintained that it’s hard to get there but even harder to stay there, and we’re up for the fight.”
Wigan were victorious in the sides’ last meeting in May, and head into the clash hoping to extend a 13-match winning run.
But whilst there is undoubtedly more riding on the encounter, Arthur has urged the Rhinos to enjoy the occasion.
“It’s no bigger challenge than any other time that we play Wigan,” he explained.
“They’re a good team and we’ve got a lot of respect for them as a club and what they’ve done, but we need to focus on ourselves, show ourselves some respect, and really go after the occasion.
“We’re at our home ground, the place is going to be full of Leeds Rhinos supporters, so we’ve got to make the most of the opportunity.
“There’s no pressure on us; we just need to go after it, enjoy it and be excited.
“When I first arrived, did I think two years in that we’d have this opportunity? No.
“At the start of this year, it was a dream and now it’s a reality, so credit to the club with where we’ve got to.
“But there’s no good (just) getting here, we’ve got to make the most of it. These opportunities don’t come around every year or all the time.
“We’re up for it, we’re excited about it and we’re really looking forward to the opportunity, but we need to approach it the same way we have every other week.
“We’ve been slowly building for finals intensity, and this has got no bigger feeling to it than ever.”