'Nobody will get carried away': Leeds Rhinos full-back Richie Myler staying grounded with help of Rohan Smith

Rohan Smith's side carried their unconvincing pre-season form into the new Super League campaign, suffering a huge defeat at the hands of Warrington Wolves in round one before going down to Hull FC in frustrating fashion at Headingley.

Fast forward a fortnight and the mood has changed markedly, thanks in no small part to a thrilling victory in the backyard of newly crowned world club champions St Helens.

After seeing their team overcome a sluggish start to nil Wakefield Trinity last time out, Leeds fans are in optimistic mood ahead of Thursday's trip to Castleford Tigers.

Inside the Rhinos camp, however, there is always a sense of perspective, which Richie Myler says helped the players quickly arrest the slide.

“Rohan’s really good in the sense he doesn’t ride a win too much and doesn’t ride a loss too much,” said the Leeds full-back.

“He keeps everybody focused on the next task and I think you could see that in our play (against Wakefield last Friday).

“It wasn’t going our way and that’s going to happen at times – you’re not going to hit your straps every time – but we refocused at half-time and spoke about getting back to our game plan and what we wanted to do.

"I thought we delivered that in the second half and got the rewards for it.”

Leeds were kept scoreless by Trinity in the first half before opening up in the final 40 minutes to post 26 points without reply.

As encouraging as aspects of the last two performances were, there is no chance of Smith's side falling in love with themselves.

“It’s a platform to build off," said Myler. "There were some steps forward but we’ve still got a way to go.

"We built on last week at Saints. That was a big high and to back that up against a decent Wakefield side, who are tough to break down, we were happy with that.

“We’ve only played four rounds and there’s a long, long way to go. Nobody will get carried away but we made a good step forward (last week) and just need to keep building on that.”

Myler's form reflected Leeds' struggles in the opening two rounds but he has begun to find his feet, laying on five tries in the last two games to leave him fourth for assists in Super League.

“The first half was a bit of a mixed bag but in the second half I started to get into it and had assists with a couple of tries and played my game off the back of the team going the right way," added the 32-year-old.

“I'm getting there. I'm happy and building into it. There’s lots to work on and we are going to keep working hard as a team and as individuals.”

Leeds have had to contend with a series of injuries in the early part of 2023, winger Ash Handley the latest after picking up an ankle issue against Wakefield.

Smith was, however, able to welcome back centre Harry Newman and second-rower James Bentley last week.

In his first game since suffering a fresh hamstring problem last August, Newman came off the bench to score a try with his first touch and show the Rhinos what they had been missing.

“Competition for places is great,” said Myler.

“You can see the quality Harry has got but we just want him to ease into it, find his feet and get some games under his belt, then we all know what kind of player he can be.

“It’s just about him getting the minutes and the conditioning into his body so he’s fit and firing for the rest of the season.”

Newman could find himself on the bench again this week when Leeds make the short trip to Castleford.

The Rhinos are expected to make it three straight wins against a coachless team without a point to their name – but Myler knows better than to write Castleford off in a derby that usually brings out the best in them.

“They have changed their coaching set-up and you always get a reaction from that,” he said.

“It is always a big derby and we are looking forward to the challenge. We’ll go there on the back of two good performances, but not excellent performances, with lots to work on.”