Leeds Rhinos boss Rohan Smith brushes off scrutiny over position after collapse against Huddersfield Giants

The Rhinos appeared set to return to winning ways when they opened up a 12-point lead for a second time, only to implode with a makeshift right edge following injuries to Harry Newman and David Fusitu'a.

Leeds conceded six tries in the second half and only Jake Connor's wayward goalkicking kept the hosts in the contest as full-time approached.

The 30-24 defeat left the Rhinos eighth in the table and increased the pressure on Smith.

There were boos in the closing stages, which were at their loudest when Lachie Miller inexplicably attempted a short drop-out to gift Connor the chance to nudge Huddersfield ahead for the first time from a penalty, but Smith is not worried about any personal ramifications.

"I've never considered that," he said. "They might have been booing the ref too.

"The players put a lot of effort in, worked hard and did a lot of good stuff.

"We let ourselves down in some moments for sure but part of that was due to players playing out of position and whatnot.

"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 reached the Super League Grand Final in 2022 following Smith's mid-season arrival but struggled for consistency on their way to an eighth-place finish last season.

The Rhinos have shown both sides of their game in the opening two months of the 2024 campaign, winning four and losing four to continue a theme of Smith's tenure.

The Australian is convinced Leeds can turn their fortunes around to enjoy a strong season.

"There's a lot of belief," he said. "They back each other and we're very connected as a group.

"We just need to play better for longer. We've had too many lapses, too many periods in games where we haven't been good enough. We had some lapses today but there were a lot of positive periods as well.

"I'm confident we'll get a good response next week and will go to Hull and play well."

Huddersfield boss Ian Watson found himself in Smith's position last June after a 54-0 Headingley defeat left his team 10th in the table.

Watson appeared to be fighting for his job but got the Giants back on track and oversaw a first win at Leeds in six years on Friday night to continue a promising start to the season.

"That was very emotional," he said reflecting on his previous visit to Headingley.

"This is emotional for different reasons but that was a real emotional night where as a group we had some real good discussions about what you want to achieve not only in rugby but your life and what you want to stand for as well.

"It's pleasing to come here and get the win. It's really pleasing for it to be Huddersfield's first win here in six years as well because we can knock that monkey off our back now and move forward positively. Credit to the players."

A defiant Watson reiterated his belief that he would deliver long-term success to the Giants in the aftermath of last year's Headingley hammering, declaring: "I'll win a comp here."

Huddersfield are closer to challenging for honours than 10 months ago but Watson is not getting carried away with their start to 2024.

"We're going day to day and week to week," he said.

"We're not jumping ahead. That's what we've spoken about with this group.

"We're eight games in so it's far too early for that. The early part of the year is about building your processes so you can hopefully be successful at the back end of the year.

"We've shown a bit of resilience. Coming to Leeds with a few busted bodies in the team and out of the team shows good character from us."