Rhinos need to sharpen attack

Rhinos head coach Brian McDermott knows that despite beating Wolves last Friday, there is still plenty to improve on.

Tries from Danny McGuire, Zak Hardaker, Kallum Watkins and Liam Hood gave Leeds a 26-18 win which saw Warrington knocked off the league’s summit.

McDermott said: “We came in on Saturday morning, had a look at the game and we know it wasn’t picture perfect. We played against a very good Warrington side but there is still work to do from our side of things.

“We are heading in the right direction but there is still a long way to go for this team and a lot of things that we need to get right.

“Our attack has not been as fluid as we would have liked it to be over the last few weeks and, whilst our defence has been strong, we now want our attack to match that level of performance.”

The Rhinos are without the suspended Ryan Bailey – ruled out for three matches after his clash with referee Richard Silverwood last week – but with captain Kevin Sinfield shaking off a dead leg, McDermott has options.

“I am in the fortunate position that I have a couple of blokes who are chomping at the bit to get their chance in the team.

“We have got some great competition within our squad and that is a real positive for us.

“That can be seen in the hooker position as well. Liam Hood has done well to come in and score two tries in his first two games but Liam knows that he still has a lot of work to do.

“Paul McShane remains very much part of our plans and just because Liam has scored a couple of tries does not mean we have altered our plans for the hooking role. Both guys drive each other on to be better and that helps to improve the team.”