Brad Arthur in 'good space' to make Leeds Rhinos call after Leigh Leopards win
Brad Arthur says he feels in a "good space" to make a decision over his Leeds Rhinos future after watching his team claim a vital 22-14 victory at Leigh Leopards.
The Australian plans to respond to the offer of a new multi-year deal on Monday following discussions with his family over the weekend.
It was a timely result on Thursday night as the Rhinos strengthened their grip on a play-off spot with a gutsy display against Super League's form side.
Asked if the performance could sway his thinking, Arthur said: "I love winning and I've really enjoyed my time here. I love it.
"The club can't do any more than what they've done for me. I'm so grateful. The players can't do any more than what they've done for me.
"It's purely just a decision around my family but I'm in a good space to be able to make that decision now."
Leeds' victory lifted them into fourth in the Super League table and kept them firmly in contention for a top-two finish.
Arthur hailed the battling qualities of his side, who hit back from 8-0 down to lead at half-time thanks to tries from Lachie Miller and Sam Lisone.
James Bentley added another in the early stages of the second period but the result was not settled until Brodie Croft went over late on, moments after Josh Charnley spurned a golden chance for Leigh.
"The character in the team is in the fight," added Arthur.
"That has been there for 21 weeks and that's the most impressive thing for me at the moment. That shows you that the players really care.
"They buy in for the club. We haven't nailed our footy all the time and that's a bit of a work on but for the majority of the game it was really good.
"We're just gifting cheap field position through some dumb things at times. If we can just get that out of the performance, we should be OK."
Leeds now sit just one point behind the third-placed Leopards as they turn their attention to a West Yorkshire derby at Castleford Tigers next Saturday.
Arthur's men then face Hull KR, Hull FC, Huddersfield Giants, Catalans Dragons and Wigan Warriors in the final month of the regular season.
With a play-off place now firmly within their grasp, Arthur believes the Rhinos will be better for another intense clash at Leigh.
"It certainly helps us get ready for those big games," he said.
"We've had a lot of big games in the last 10 weeks. We've lost our fair share of games but all our losing margins have been minimal. We've been right in them.
"We got beaten in our previous game (at Wakefield Trinity) in the last 30 seconds but this week we managed to hang on and score a try. We're learning as we go.
"It's an important result in terms of how the table looks. Any time you can take two points off a team that's in front of you, it's almost worth four.
"We've got six games to go and that's still a long time."
Leeds bolstered their squad for the run-in this week with the signing of Chris Hankinson from Salford Red Devils.
Arthur expects the outside back to be better for a challenging debut on Thursday.
"He had a couple of errors but it's hard when you come in, have one session, the captain's run and then get thrown out there," said Arthur.
"He carried the ball nice and strong. It'll take a bit of time with the combinations but he's going to be handy for us."