Betfred Super League 2025: Leeds hope the Arthur effect can return them to top table

By almost any measure, Leeds Rhinos’ 2024 season was a massive letdown. But the mid-season appointment of head coach Brad Arthur is the main reason for the Blue and Amber faithful to have optimism heading into the 2025 Betfred Super League campaign. 

The Rhinos almost sneaked into a play-off spot at the end of ’24, with only a couple of defeats against Grand Finalists Wigan Warriors and Hull KR foiling them in the run-in. But a first full pre-season under Arthur has given Leeds a new outlook ahead of the new season.

And star half-back Brodie Croft believes the systems set in place by the former Parramatta Eels coach could help to narrow the gap between the Rhinos’ best and worst performances.

“We’ve had a good first stint of pre-season so far. It’s been BA’s first chance to really set some groundwork and his structures and foundations into us that he wants us to deliver upon, and I feel like the boys are really buying into it,” the Leeds number six tells Betfred.

“There definitely were moments [in ‘24] when we looked like world-beaters, and then other moments where it looked like the world was beating us. So we have reset from that, learned from that, and we’re putting into practice what we need to work on, and doing it for longer is probably the biggest thing in matches.”

Leeds have been busy in the off-season, adding enigmatic utility back Jake Connor from Huddersfield Giants and NRL imports Keenan Palasia and Maika Sivo. There is also the return of a familiar face in record Super League tryscorer Ryan Hall, who surpassed Danny McGuire’s all-time mark last year on the way to a Grand Final appearance with Hull KR.

The former England winger now returns to AMT Headingley after six years away, and admits that there’s a homely feeling about the Rhinos colours.

“I’ve rolled back the years, certainly. I’m in the blue and amber again,” says the 37-year-old. “I enjoyed my time obviously, doing what I did prior to this, but I’m glad to be home now. Because it is home really, I’m a Leeds lad.”

And Hall is delighted by the structure of coach Arthur’s message in pre-season.

“It’s tough. And that’s what you want, but you don’t want to be blindly running for the sake of running. He’s added some direction with it, he’s said that we’ll be doing X, Y, Z for the reasons of X, Y, Z, so it all makes sense and there’s a reason why we’re doing stuff. That’s what you want as a player. You want to know what the outcome is that we want to try to achieve.”

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Co-captain Cameron Smith is certainly keen to put the travails of 2024 behind him, but the back-rower insists that it is within the Rhinos to put right the wrongs of 12 months ago.

“If we focus on us, we’ll be there at the end of the year,” Smith adds. “Even though last year was fairly disappointing, a couple more wins in the games that we should have won and we would have probably been in the play-offs at the back-end of the year. So if we focus on us, I’m sure we’ll be competing at the end of the year.

“There’s been a lot of change, with Brad Arthur coming in halfway through the year last year. We’ve now had a chance to have a full pre-season under him, it’s been really tough so far and there’s been a lot of turnover in players too. I think we’re in a really good spot.”

The Rhinos are slated as fifth-favourites to win the Grand Final in 2025, with Betfred having them priced at 10/1 to triumph at the ‘Big Dance’. They are an 8/15 shot to finish in the top six, while prolific outside back Ash Handley can be backed at 10/1 to finish the regular season as the league’s top tryscorer

They get their competitive season underway on Saturday, February 8 when they take on amateur outfit Wests Warriors in the Betfred Challenge Cup. The game has been switched to Headingley, giving the Rhinos home advantage.

Leeds last won the Challenge Cup in 2020, with an epic 17-16 triumph over Salford Red Devils at an empty Wembley Stadium. They are 8/1 with title sponsors Betfred to regain the coveted trophy in 2025.

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