At the start of the season no one would have imagined that Leeds Rhinos would be lying jointly at the bottom of the Super League with just one win from six matches.
Nor would anyone have predicted that they would be hammered 40-16 at home in their first match in this season’s Challenge Cup, and that they would be losing 28-0 at half-time.
The Rhinos now sit alongside Castleford and Toulouse Olympique at the wrong end of the table and we saw on Saturday afternoon that they couldn’t hold a candle to the Tigers.
On Friday they host St Helens at Headingley and it’s very difficult to believe that they will gather any joy from that game, even though their fellow strugglers Toulouse defeated Saints in their last home game.
The problem for the Rhinos is that most of the other clubs in the lower half of Super League are playing better than they are.
So we must ask the vital question that headlines this article.
And the answer is that unless the Rhinos can demonstrate significant improvement then they certainly will be in danger of relegation. Just like every other club in the competition, they don’t have a free pass that entitles them to remain in Super League forever.
I thought that the Rhinos would respond positively to the appointment of Jamie Jones-Buchanan as the club’s interim head-coach and that we would see a marked improvement compared to their recent games against Hull FC and Salford. But that didn’t happen and in fact they regressed, apart from in the early stages of the second half, when they scored two tries but collapsed again when Greg Eden scored an interception try of the sort that he grabs so often.
After the game Jamie spoke about the culture at the club and implied that it wasn’t tight enough. In other words the players aren’t prepared to make the sacrifices needed to give themselves the best chance of success.
It made me wonder whether there is a division in the Leeds squad and that there are some natural barriers that are preventing the development of the sort of Rhinos team spirit that was always apparent when Kevin Sinfield was the captain.
Sinfield would do anything for a member of his team, but in return, if one of the team let the side down, Sinfield would then give the errant player a tremendous dressing-down, whether on or off the field.
We have seen, since Sinfield’s retirement, the unique bond that tied him to all his team-mates and that led to his heroic work for his mate Rob Burrow when Rob needed help.
And of course he was backed up by Jamie Peacock, who also wouldn’t suffer fools gladly.
I have a lot of time for Kruise Leeming as a Leeds captain. He speaks very well and he’s clearly a very intelligent player. But does he have the leadership qualities that can ultimately get the Rhinos out of trouble? I hope so, but I don’t know the answer to that question.
But the Rhinos players themselves must take charge of their predicament.
And what about the prospects for Castleford after Saturday’s performance.
A few weeks ago I wrote that there was a danger that an ageing squad could find themselves in decline, as any squad would do over time.
But on Saturday some of their older stars shone – particularly Joe Westerman, who is the sort of player the Rhinos perhaps should have signed during the close-season.
And the other Castleford player who was mightily impressive was Kenny Edwards, whose carries and offloads were outstanding, troubling Leeds all afternoon.
The Tigers now face a vital game against Toulouse this Friday and a win then will see them begin to climb away from the relegation zone.
Given their performance on Saturday, it’s hard to believe that won’t happen.
On the other hand, it only takes one great result to change the atmosphere around a club and if Leeds were able to get a win against Saints this Friday, we would all no doubt rethink our opinions about them.
But I don’t hold out much hope for them.
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