Rhinos chief McDermott hits back at critics and rallies the faithful ahead of derby battle

They visit Bradford Bulls tomorrow having won just once in their last five games and picked up only a single home success at Headingley Carnegie.

When they were crushed there 38-6 by new Super League leaders Huddersfield Giants on Friday, sorry Leeds were booed by sections of the crowd at both half-time and the final hooter, an unfamiliar occurrence given their recent trophy-laden seasons.

Some criticism was aimed at head coach McDermott, who returned from Harlequins last winter initially as Brian McClennan’s assistant before being promoted when the Kiwi decided to quit in October.

A worryingly porous defence is troubled Rhinos’ biggest concern given they have conceded 38 points in each of their last two games – against the Giants and at Hull KR – and conceded an average of almost 27 per fixture.

“We’ve got some frailty there,” said McDermott. “I won’t mince my words. You can blame me and hang the hat there if you have to and I’m not going to say don’t blame the players either, but it is a collective thing and collectively we’re sticking together.

“We’re tight and that’s why it feels good when it comes good because we all stick together.

“While the boat gets a bit shaky at times and you start to think ‘shall I jump, shall I jump?’ all those that are jumping now will feel terrible when it comes good.

“Those that kept faith, held on tight and kept strong with us will feel great when it comes good because that’s what faith does for you. We’ll get it. We will turn it around. It’s just at times like this when it gets a bit dark and a bit lonely that’s when, as a group, you have to stay tight.”

Leeds, hanging onto a place in the top eight, almost defeated champions Wigan recently before squandering an 18-point advantage late on to draw 22-22.

McDermott, who made his name as a feared forward during Bradford’s halcyon days in Super League, admitted: “I would expect to be better placed by now but I am optimistic we can turn things round.

“It would be nice against Bradford. They are traditionally big games and we’d all expect us to win because we’re Leeds – they’re Bradford – and that’s what people at Leeds do.

“But I think you can get wrapped up in that. I’m not trying to avoid the win-loss conversation but I do know we played Wigan a few weeks ago and people were massively pleased with how we were playing and the performance.

“Not too many people came up and were disappointed about the fact we didn’t win that game.

“It’s just the same over these last couple of weeks; I don’t think people are too bothered about the fact we’re losing, it’s how we’re losing and how we’re playing. The performance – that’s our focus at the moment.

“We’re not going to Bradford saying it’s a must-win mentality. We’ve got to play well and have something to build on as, after the Hull KR game, we didn’t.

“That was a bit of a deflating week and we didn’t progress again as a team and play better than the week before which is what we’ve got to be doing.”

Heading into Easter last year under McClennan, Leeds were even more inconsistent, having lost five of their opening eight league fixtures and the World Club Challenge.

They emerged from that rut after fighting back to claim a dramatic draw versus Bradford, two-try Lee Smith doing the damage on his return from Wasps, and ultimately came within 80 minutes of a trip to Old Trafford in the Grand Final.

They will hope for a similar fillip tomorrow but McDermott insists this three-match period – they entertain Crusaders on Monday before visiting high-flying Castleford four days later – will not make or break their season.

Disciplinary news: Page 23.