Leeds Rhinos v Warrington Wolves: Brad Arthur pays no attention to mood music ahead of Old Trafford shootout

The great rivals emerged as the standout title contenders during the regular season, seemingly destined for a Grand Final showdown.

But as crunch time has approached, the narrative has shifted.

While Wigan have maintained their ominous form, the Rhinos have lost momentum when they need it most.

A crushing home defeat by the Warriors in the League Leaders' Shield decider was flanked by Headingley losses to Leigh Leopards and Hull FC, each marked by the same attacking flatness.

Having led the way for much of the year, Leeds ultimately finished level on points with third-placed Warrington Wolves, earning a top-two spot by virtue of their superior for and against.

That came with the added bonus of a week off – or so it seemed.

Rather than recharge and come back stronger, the Rhinos have seen captain Ash Handley and experienced centre Jack Bird join Lachie Miller and Danny Levi on the sidelines.

A month ago, the idea of Warrington being regarded as favourites for this semi-final would have drawn curious glances.

Yet that is the mood music ahead of tonight's do-or-die clash – not that Brad Arthur is paying much attention to the external noise.

"I don't really know what we do or don't get described as," he said. "And I don't really care.

"People can have their opinions. We've just got to show the best version of us.

"We've seen that plenty of times this year and have played a lot of good footy. Our last couple of weeks haven’t been ideal but it doesn’t really count for much right now. It doesn’t mean anything.

"People are only going to remember and we're only going to remember what we do in this 80 minutes, not what happened in round 12, 22 or 27.

“We’ve worked extremely hard and had a great season which set us up and put us in this position where we finished in the top two and 80 minutes away from Old Trafford.

"If you offer that to me at the start of the year, I'm grabbing it with two hands. We know the best version of us is good enough."

The problem for Leeds is that Headingley has not seen their best for some time.

Indeed, the Rhinos have not won in front of their own fans since convincingly beating Toulouse Olympique in late July.

A narrow defeat to Leigh ended Leeds' hopes of a perfect home campaign before they were overpowered and outclassed by Wigan.

A date with lowly Hull appeared to offer an ideal opportunity to restore some confidence – only for the Rhinos to come up short again.

While he has struck an upbeat tone in the face of recent challenges, the dent to Leeds' proud home record has hurt Arthur.

There is no better stage to repay the fans for their unflinching support.

"That (the run of home defeats) has annoyed us a little bit," said Arthur. "The last couple of games haven’t been our best here.

"We’ve got 80 minutes to put it right. We do owe that to our fans. Our last couple of crowds have been outstanding.”

For all the recent doubt surrounding their title challenge, Leeds did the double over Warrington during the regular season, including a resounding 34-6 win at the Halliwell Jones Stadium in June.

Those results provide encouragement but timing is everything at this stage of the campaign – and it is the Wolves who have hit their stride at the right moment.

Last week's convincing victory over defending champions Hull KR made it eight wins in nine games for Sam Burgess' side, adding to the sense that they are favourites for tonight's semi-final.

Arthur expects the visitors to embrace the challenge with plenty of belief.

"They will be confident," he acknowledged.

"They've played some good footy the last couple of weeks and have done a really good job to get to where they are now – 80 minutes away from Old Trafford.

"They will be very happy with their season and really keen to get over here but our biggest focus is on us and our 80 minutes and putting it out on the field.

"We know what our best looks like and can we reproduce it? We just have to get out there and play well."

After a season of ups and downs, it all comes down to a straight shootout for a place at Old Trafford.

Leeds have not beaten Super League opposition in a knockout game for four years, another unwanted statistic attached to a semi-final in which Warrington arrive with the greater momentum.

As far as Arthur is concerned, though, none of that matters this week.

"We hadn't won at St Helens," he said. "We hadn't done a lot of things.

"It's just another opportunity. I'm not big on stats – records are there to be broken."