Leeds head coach Brian McDermott expressed his pride despite another defeat.
The Rhinos couldn’t back up their victory over Hull FC, eventually going down 38-34 to St Helens.
As a top eight spot begins to look increasingly unlikely, McDermott stated it was a pleasure to be involved with the club’s current roster of players.
“I feel extremely proud,” McDermott said. “I’m lucky to be involved with a group of men who probably defy the odds.
“Obviously, we’ve a fair chunk of our preferred starting 13 missing already, Carl Ablett didn’t come back for the second half and Zak was missing for most of it, both of them weren’t fit and it was a gamble to play them.
“And then we’ve got some blokes who have played that much game time so to be within touching distance on a number of occasions, it was brilliant.
“I’ve experienced some great moments with this team and for different reasons, I feel so good about the group and where we’re at, although if you look at the league position, it’s another loss and we’re no further up the ladder and that’s hard to take.
“The harsh reality is we’ve got to win some games but, if don’t get what we want to get this year, we’ll go down swinging.
“I don’t think either coach will be happy defensively but some blokes were gassed and it’s starting to bite a bit.”
