LEEDS RHINOS went down 26-24 to Castleford Tigers at Super League’s Magic Weekend to round off the first day.
The Rhinos led 24-14 with ten minutes to go, but late tries from Alex Mellor and Jason Qareqare inflicted an unlikely defeat on Rohan Smith’s men.
Smith was evidently frustrated following the result and slammed his side’s performance and standards.
“We were disjointed, our defence against their shift plays wasn’t anywhere near the standard. Offensively we didn’t take care of the ball and that just wasn’t there at the back end – the respect for possession just wasn’t there,” Smith said
“We’ve been up for it a lot lately but today our execution was a long way off. I thought it was a very slow game but their shift plays had some energy to it.
“We just didn’t have the usual level of connectivity, discipline and trust so they created more opportunities than what we would have liked.
“I’m not concerned with managing the lead as much as playing good solid complementary footy where the defence helps the attack and the attack helps the defence.”
Smith took two simple positives out of the game: “We were poor and close to a result and we don’t have any injuries.”
One forward pulled out of the warm-up and thus didn’t play, with Tom Holroyd succumbing to a lower leg injury.
“Tom Holroyd has a lower leg issue and wasn’t quite right. It was one of those that sometimes happen, when you have plenty out that’s the time it usually happens
“I’m not going to put it down to who wasn’t playing, the performance wasn’t of a standard and I haven’t said that very often.”
Smith did, however, bemoan the “flop-a-thon” that has come his side’s way in recent weeks.
“Every team is trying to find a quick play the ball, when you’ve got two flops landing on plenty of plays, you can’t get a quick ruck and then everyone fights that little bit harder and that’s where those errors come from.
“It was a flop-a-thon. Last week, it was 40 to 18 that came from an independent source and I wouldn’t be surprised if it wasn’t like that today.
“It’s not about that to me, we could stay in the ruck longer but it’s more you negate the good carry you had and the momentum. You have to be consistent and compete for longer and we didn’t do that today.”
