If you weren’t sure this Leeds side are firmly in the Super League title equation, then you are now. For clarity, teams very rarely defeat Hull KR: this is only the fourth time they have tasted defeat in 2025 and two of them have been by the Rhinos. It is also the first time they have lost by 20 points or more in almost 18 months.
This was not just a victory for Brad Arthur’s side. It was a statement that Super League title No 9 may not be too far away for a team who are rejuvenated under the guidance of the Australian. Back-to-back eighth-placed finishes in 2023 and 2024 seem a distant past; this is now a side capable of going the distance this autumn.
For 80 minutes here, Headingley felt like the good old days when league titles were more of a formality than they were a possibility. With a raucous crowd behind them and Leeds playing a wonderful brand of rugby, they blew the Super League leaders away from start to finish.
In doing so, they breathed new life into their push for a place in the top two come the playoffs. The League Leaders’ Shield is doubtless heading to Hull KR, but second place is now firmly up for grabs, with Leeds level on points with Wigan with four rounds remaining – and that brings with it huge positives come the playoffs.
The top two get a bye through the opening round of the play-offs and a home semi-final too. All of a sudden, few would back against Leeds. Leading 18-0 at half-time thanks to tries from Jake Connor, Presley Cassell and Lachie Miller, there was never much chance of a Rovers comeback on an off-night for them, but a stellar one for Leeds.
“I feel like it’s been building towards that,” Arthur said following their best performance of 2025. Miller was at the heart of everything they did well, laying on a try for Connor before Cassell, the latest product of their fine academy, surged through to make it 12-0.
Miller then rounded the Hull KR defence to make it 18-0 long before the half-hour mark. Having delivered a wonderful display at the reigning champions, Wigan Warriors, last week, this was perhaps an understandably low-key evening for Rovers. But the standards they have set in recent years means this will be a difficult night to review.
“It wasn’t a good performance or result,” their coach, Willie Peters, said. “They had more aggression and intent, and they strolled through us.” Any notion of a Hull KR comeback had to come through an early try after half-time to breathe life into the contest, but Leeds’ defensive efforts meant that felt unlikely.
There were half-chances, but the Rhinos always felt in control of proceedings. Connor’s penalty to make it a four-score lead only emphasised that further before another scintillating attacking move led to Harry Newman scoring their fourth try of the night.
Another penalty from the boot of Connor as Rovers continued to toil then made it 28-0 and at that stage, the prospect of Hull KR being beaten to nil for the first time since May 2022 appeared to be on the cards. They at least avoided that ignominy when Tom Davies crossed in the corner with five minutes left, but the damage had long since been done and the statement long since been made.
Perhaps it was fitting Leeds delivered a performance like this here too, on the night when the late, great Rob Burrow’s family were in attendance. How he would have absolutely loved his beloved Rhinos producing something quite as emphatic as this.
