Rohan Smith has been questioned about whether he feels the pressure rising after Leeds Rhinos twice managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory against Huddersfield Giants last night. The Rhinos conceded a ten-point or more lead on two occasions, resulting in a fourth straight defeat at Headingley.
After leading 12-2 at halftime and 24-12 with 15 minutes to go, the Rhinos ended up losing 30-24, and boos rang out at the full-time hooter. Head coach Rohan Smith suggested that the Headingley faithful might have been “booing the ref too”.
The deciding blow for the Rhinos came five minutes from time with the score at 24-24. Lachlan Miller was forced back over his goal-line and then boldly opted to kick short, inexcusably failing to make the ten meters, which granted Huddersfield a penalty in front of the posts to go ahead.
Rohan Smith objected to the tackle that saw Miller forced into his in-goal area, arguing that it was a “huge call” that went against the Rhinos. However, he did accept that the short kick was “an incorrect call”.
Is Rohan Smith under pressure at Leeds Rhinos?
Credit: Imago Images
The defeat has increased pressure on Smith, with fans calling for his dismissal. Post-match, he was asked if he felt the loss added more pressure, given the clear show of discontent by the Headingley crowd’s chorus of boos.
Smith responded to the press: “I’ve never considered that. They could have been booing the ref too.”
“I think the players put a lot of effort in there. They worked hard and did a lot of good stuff. We let ourselves down in some moments for sure, and part of that was due to people playing out of position and whatnot.”
Leeds were forced to use players out of position due to the injuries to right-edge players Harry Newman and David Fusitu’a, both men that Sky Sports’ pundit Jon Wilkin has lamented the efforts of.
Analyzing the game, Wilkin argued: “I get that you’re injured, I just think it’s inexcusable not to get on the end of the line,” before adding: “I think you have a responsibility to commit if you’re on the field to do your job and those two players didn’t do the job.”
“Confident we’ll get a response” – Leeds Rhinos heading into ‘must-win’ territory
Credit: Imago Images
That defeat has taken the Rhinos to a record of four wins and four losses, with fears already emerging about another trophy-less season being on the horizon.
Despite that being the view of many fans and pundits from the outside, Rohan Smith has maintained that there’s plenty of unity behind the scenes, and he’s certain of a result next week.
“Those players and us as a staff are very well connected; we’re in it together. So, over the course of a very long season, we’re not in the worst position. We’d like to be in a better position for sure, but it’s a tight, hard competition.”
Leeds take on Hull FC next week in a potential ‘get-right’ game, something that St Helens did when facing the Black and Whites last night with a 58-0 win, and Rohan Smith is “confident” that his side will head there and play well.
“I’m confident we’ll get a good response next week and we’ll go to Hull and play well,” the Rhinos boss reacted.
“We need to see a response, get back to work, and continue to work on our combinations and our execution defensively when we’re under pressure, which we’ll be sure to be at some stage in every game. So that’ll be for us to work on during the week and be better next week.”
If he doesn’t see a response and the Rhinos don’t get a result, then it will undoubtedly raise more questions about the future of Rohan Smith at the Headingley club.