Rohan Smith hoping Leeds Rhinos are next to benefit from momentum shift

Leeds are in danger of being left behind ahead of tomorrow's trip to Wakefield Trinity after throwing away a healthy advantage to suffer a fourth defeat in five games against Castleford Tigers at Magic Weekend.

Smith saw enough in the first half of the season to suggest things could quickly turn for last year’s Grand Finalists.

"Teams can start the season winning eight in a row and then they lose a couple in a row," he said. "Some other teams sitting in the top six have lost three or four in a row.

"It's a close competition. We've been part of that. We've been in a lot of close games.

"The performances aren't quite at the standard we want, particularly last weekend. We've played better in some of our losing games than some of the ones we've won.

"It's about getting the result but the closeness of the competition is fantastic and should be appreciated, respected and promoted."

Wakefield are the exception after failing to win any of their 15 games in both competitions.

Leeds are on their guard as Mark Applegarth prepares to make more changes to his depleted side.

"They've had a lot of different personnel and a lot of different combinations," said Smith. "They're trying different things to try and get a result.

"It's hard to know exactly what they'll look like but we had a particularly tough battle with them at home on a snowy weekend a couple of months back.

"They've made a lot of good teams really work hard for their results. We're under no illusions that they'll be throwing everything they've got.

"For us, our focus is on cleaning up some things from last week and building some more rhythm and consistency for more of an 80-minute performance."

Leeds have selection issues of their own with Harry Newman and Morgan Gannon among the long-term absentees.

"At the moment, we've got seven or eight of our top 18 or 20 players unavailable," added Smith. "We believe in our squad and there's good footy ahead. We need to find it this weekend."