'They're getting good at that': Brad Arthur points to Leeds Rhinos progress after vital victory

The Rhinos moved to within two points of the faltering Dragons in the race for the play-offs thanks to a stirring second-half showing at Headingley on Friday night.

Leeds' season was on the line after going into half-time 6-0 down but they rallied to dominate the final 40 minutes.

The vital 18-6 victory sets up the chance to claim consecutive wins for the first time on Arthur's watch when they travel to lowly London Broncos next Sunday.

The Rhinos remain in must-win territory but Arthur will leave that talk to other people.

"We haven't talked about it and we're not going to talk about it moving forward because we know every game is important," said the Australian, who signed a new deal for 2025 on the eve of the match against Catalans.

"The boys would have known there was pressure on them in the second half but they handled it really well and stuck to their job knowing it would come together rather than chasing the scoreboard. They're getting good at that.

"We showed good composure because psychologically in the back of their minds the boys know how important it is. They've got everyone else telling them so I don't need to tell them how important the two points are.

"They all know the equation and situation but we cannot afford to be worried about four weeks' time; we need to worry about where we're at now.

"We're yet to put back-to-back wins together so that's the next thing we're chasing."

Although they have lost as many matches as they have won under Arthur, performances have improved and Leeds are becoming more difficult to beat.

A third win since Arthur's arrival was the perfect response to their Magic Weekend loss to Warrington Wolves in a game of fine margins.

Indeed, the Rhinos have responded to each defeat with a win in a promising start to the Arthur era.

Whereas some of their rivals are stuttering – such as Catalans who have lost four of their past six games – Leeds appear to be growing in strength at a crucial stage of the season.

"We've been in every game with a chance of winning them," said Arthur.

"We've self-destructed a little bit in a couple of them or had a couple of things go wrong for us but the choices they're making around attitude, effort and physicality have been really positive in every game.

"That's what we've talked about just then – challenging them to keep doing that because that's a choice.

"We don't need to focus too much on what's happening with the rest of the competition; we need to maintain the kind of team we're trying to be at the moment and if we can be that every week, it'll give us a good chance.

"We've got to rely on other results but that's out of our control."