Leeds Rhinos motivated by Headingley play-off drought ahead of acid Hull KR test
History shows home advantage in the play-offs is not the be-all and end-all for Leeds Rhinos.
The Rhinos famously won back-to-back Super League titles from fifth, remarkable achievements built on memorable victories on the road.
Rohan Smith's Leeds repeated the feat to reach Old Trafford in 2022, only to fall at the final hurdle.
Securing a home tie this time around would carry a different kind of weight for the Rhinos.
It would be proof of the consistency they have struggled to find since they last hosted a play-off game in 2017 – the year they were crowned champions for the eighth time.
Brad Arthur's class of 2025 cannot yet be mentioned in the same breath as the golden generation but, for the first time in a long time, Leeds are a team to be feared again.
The Rhinos host Hull KR on Thursday night knowing a win would take them level on points with second-placed Wigan Warriors, edging them closer to ending a drought that even caught Arthur by surprise.
"I didn't realise that," admitted the Australian, who took over at Headingley last summer.
"It certainly gives us extra motivation. I think the club, our supporters and sponsors deserve a home final. It's a long time.
"But there's a lot of hard work between now and then. We have been very good at just focusing on us and how we get better. It's not so much who we play but how we play.
"If we continue to do that, we might give ourselves a chance to get to that end result – but there's a fair bit of work to be done yet and lots of twists and turns left in this competition."
If everything goes to plan, the clash with the table-topping Robins will give Leeds a flavour of what to expect in the play-offs.
Rovers have set the standard in 2025 and are closing in on the League Leaders' Shield, providing a clear benchmark for a Rhinos side eager to prove their own credentials.
While he acknowledged that KR will be the team to beat in the play-offs, Arthur has issued a warning to the title favourites.
"They've earned the right to be there (in top spot)," said the Leeds boss.
"I think they would understand there are quite a few teams around them at the moment that are chasing pretty hard and have shown that if they get there at the end of the year, any of them are good enough to win it.
"Hull KR are the team everyone’s chasing – but there are five or six other teams who would like to think they are a chance."
Leeds have already shown they can get the better of Hull KR this season, securing a hard-fought win at Craven Park just last month.
Even in defeat on home soil in April, they pushed Willie Peters' team to the limit.
But it is the victory in the leaders' backyard that has given the Rhinos a template for success ahead of the third of potentially four meetings in 2025.
"We can take a fair bit of confidence from that, especially on their own turf," said Arthur.
"It was the way we controlled the second half. We only made one error and still played good football with our ball movement. We got our execution right and were able to play better field position against them – because they're really good at strangling you for field position.
"The way we controlled that 40 minutes, put 14 points on them and kept them to nil was purely because we did a better job of controlling field position."
As the nights draw in and the play-offs creep ever closer, these are the games that get the juices flowing.
Leeds have found another level since losing the last Headingley showdown with the Robins, winning 10 of their 13 matches.
The Rhinos claimed a crucial victory over Leigh Leopards in their last encounter with a top-six rival before backing it up with an 11-try rout of Castleford Tigers, leaving them in high spirits for the biggest test of all.
"It's exciting," said Arthur.
"We know how good they are but we need to focus on us and being reliable from week to week.
"In our last two performances, we've done more good things than we've got wrong and need to continue to do it.
"We are nice and fresh from last week and had a come-from-behind win the week before so we've shown and learned different ways to win right throughout the season.
"Sometimes you're not always at your best but you can find that way to win. It's more about us making sure we know exactly what our game looks like and how we want to play. We are learning more about us as we go.
"It's going to be a tough game. They pipped us in the last couple of minutes the last time we played them at home so we are looking to make sure we put our best foot forward."