Two sides having disappointing seasons got round nineteen underway on Thursday night as the Leeds Rhinos travelled the short distance don the M62 to take on the Huddersfield Giants as ninth hosted seventh with play-off places now close to disappearing out of sight for both outfits.

The Giants had won the last two meetings between the two sides, including their 30-24 win earlier this season at Headingley and the Rhinos had not taken the points away from the John Smith’s stadium for almost five years, their last win there in August 2019.

The Rhinos had been made favourites with the bookies before the first ball was kicked, the home side with a four-point start on the coupon but it was an essential game for both sides.

It was Leeds Rhinos ‘Brad Arthur’ test day as the new coach took charge of the side for the first time as they came up against a trailblazing Hull KR side who are having a sensational season inside the top six and who wanted the two points to move level with the Warrington Wolves in second place.

The bookies made the visitors slight favourites but with only a two point advantage to the Rhinos on the handicap coupon they were far from convinced that this was an ironed on win for the Robins as Leeds looked to get two points closer to the Salford Red Devils and the cherished sixth spot in the table.

The Leeds masses gathered at Headingley to ask whether this would be a new dawn for their beloved club, or more of the same underperforming that their side has displayed for the last few years.

Under the recently announced new coaching stewardship of former Paramatta Eels coach Brad Arthur, at least until the end of the season, the Leeds Rhinos were looking for a turnaround in form and performance as they made the ominous trip to Warrington to take on a Wolves side who were looking to go second and to get within two points of the Wigan Warriors at the top of the table.

A win for the Rhinos would lift them level on points with six placed Catalans Dragons but they needed a massive points win to lift them above the side from the south of France.

Leeds had a ten-point start on the coupon, many Rhinos supporters feeling that the advantage was a little stingy on behalf of the bookmakers as they feared a larger defeat despite the new man in charge.

It was the Leeds Rhinos weekend for the two free points as they took on a beleaguered and bedraggled London Broncos side who are still on a single win for the season and looking increasingly unlikely to improve on that tally in what remains of 2024 before their despatch into the Championship.

A win would do nothing for London in terms of league position but would move them level on points with Hull FC but with Leeds getting handicapped by thirty-two points on the coupon it was already a foregone conclusion that they would be getting the points which could lift them into the top half of the table, at least until the outcome of the Hull KR and Catalans game later in the evening.

Leeds won the game in May by 46-8, London were hoping for some kind of improvement.

It was always going to be an emotional night at Headingley as the Leeds Rhinos hosted their first game since the death of idol, superstar, and MND campaigner Rob Burrow welcoming the Leig Leopards to a sold-out stadium.

But the departure, by mutual consent, of coach Rohan Smith during the week added an extra edge with Scott Grix and Chev Walker taking temporary charge while the global search for a new coach takes place at the highest level.

Leigh had been made favourites with the bookies with the home side given a four point start on the handicap coupon and a win for Leigh would lift them above Huddersfield and just a point behind the Rhinos.

An emotionally charged Leeds Rhinos travelled across the M62 for a Saturday afternoon encounter with a Hull FC side who had already been written off for this game, and the season, by their supporters and pundits.

The Rhinos needed a win to keep in touch with the top six as they looked to sneak a play-off place while a big points win would bolster their puny looking points difference as it might be crucial later in the season, whereas Hull FC simply needed a win, and they would take it any way that they could.

The Airlie Birds had an eight-point start on the coupon, the bookies expecting a closer encounter than most Black & Whites fans who were fearful of another big loss.

In a repeat of the last two Women’s Challenge Cup Finals, holders St Helens took on the Leeds Rhinos at Wembley Stadium with the Blue & Amber hoping to stop four consecutive wins for the Red Vee and win the trophy for the first time since 2019.

Between them, these two sides have won the last five finals, and St Helens were the strong favourites to get another win for the Totally Wicked Stadium trophy cabinet, but Leeds had the hurt of the last two seasons to draw upon for motivation.

Saints won the league encounter in round four by a narrow margin of 12-6, all indications were that this would be equally as close.

The West Yorkshire derby had it all to play for as Castleford Tigers travelled the short distance to Headingley to take on the arch enemy the Leeds Rhinos as both sides desperately needed the two points on offer.

The visitors couldn’t improve their league position with a win but could increase the gap between themselves and the bottom two club while the Rhinos knew that a win by more than twelve points would lift them into the top six, at least for the next twenty hours.

The Rhinos were handicapped by ten on the coupon, the bookies thinking that it would be a Rhinos win but not necessarily a convincing one.

A round twelve encounter between joint league leaders, St Helens, and seventh placed Leeds Rhinos was likely to be a one-sided affair with the bookies giving the Rhinos a fourteen-point start on the coupon despite the Rhinos having Brodie Croft and Harry Newman back in their starting line-up along with on-loan Matty Russell.

Saints would end the night two points clear of the chasing pack of they were to pick up the win, the Rhinos could lift themselves into the top half of the table if they were to grab an unlikely win over the old enemy, something that they haven’t managed since a one-point win in March 2023.

Pre-game there was pessimism amongst the Rhinos fans, expectation amongst those supporting Saints.

When it comes to Women’s Super League it doesn’t get any bigger than a clash between St Helens and the Leeds Rhinos, the top two sides in the game with league leaderships, championships and challenge cup wins between them and a dress rehearsal for next months Challenge Cup Final at Wembley.

Old rivalries were renewed in a match which the bookies struggled to find a favourite, edging towards the home side based on their home advantage.

The game was a curtain raiser for the men’s Super League game to be played this evening but there was every chance that this would be a more thrilling, exciting, and closer match than the one kicking off at eight o’clock.

A place at Wembley on the 8th June, to take on cup holders St Helens, awaited the winners of a mouthwatering encounter between the Leeds Rhinos and Wigan Warriors as the second Challenge Cup semi-final took place at the Totally Wicked Stadium in St Helens.

It couldn’t be closer in the league with both sides currently unbeaten after three rounds of the Women’s 2024 Super League and sat in equal top place and just a small separation in achieved points difference.

Leeds have been the defeated finalists in the last two seasons after back-to-back wins in 2018 and 2019, while the Cherry & Whites have never made it to a Challenge Cup Final, eighty minutes would lead to elation and heartbreak, but few would be brave enough to call the outcome before the kick-off.

The Rhinos filled their boots last week against the London Broncos but round eleven saw them with a daunting trip to the south of France to take on a Catalans Dragons side who were looking for the win to rejoin a cluster of clubs at the top of the table on sixteen league points.

A win for Leeds would lift them into the top six, but a big win could see them go ahead of the Dragons and as high as fourth in the table, but the bookies were favouring a home win, giving the visitors a fourteen-point start on the coupon.

Could the Rhinos make it three wins on the trot to find some sort of consistency or would it be the Dragons who would take their second win in their last five outings after a disappointing couple of rounds.

If Round Ten of Super League had a ‘home banker’ then it must be the home game for the Leeds Rhinos against a London Broncos side who have been unable to register a win all season and who are currently shipping in average in excess of thirty-eight points a game while scoring less than ten.

A big win for the Rhinos could see them into the top half of the table and would serve as some respite for their coach under fire, Rohan Smith, and the bookies were giving the visitors a twenty-eight-point start on the handicap coupon.

Should London grab a win, against all the odds, then the end of the evening could see them in eleventh place in the table should Hull FC sustain a heavy loss against the Warrington Wolves.

After a round nine packed with shock outcomes in favour of the underdogs, the confusion in the final fixture of the weekend was to understand whether a Hull FC side who had only won once in the 2024 season, or a Leeds Rhinos side who seem adept at engineering defeats when wins look the most likely outcome, were the real underdogs.

Hull FC gave debuts to new signing Ed Chamberlain and Yusuf Aydin while the Rhinos gave a debut to the nineteen your old Riley Lumb his debut on the wing in place of David Fusitu’a.

The bookies chose Hull FC as the underdogs, handicapping the Rhinos by fourteen points on the coupon and in the week of upsets suggested that it was a cast iron win for the Airlie Birds but a win for neither side would likely improve their current league positions.

Eighth placed Leeds Rhinos hosted Sixth placed Huddersfield Giants in a Round Eight encounter at Headingley as both sides looked to keep pace with the top of the table and avoid slipping further behind in the race for the spoils in 2024.

The bookies were going for a home win, but only just, as they gave the Rhinos a two-point handicap on the coupon with no-one suggesting that the Rhinos would rampage to the 54-0 scoreline that they registered the last time that the two sides met at Headingley in June 2023.

The Giants came into the game on the back of that massive Challenge Cup win over the Catalans Dragons last weekend, the Rhinos on the back of just one win in their last four outings.

When the just two points cover the top seven teams in the competition then many games become top of the table clashes and a Friday night encounter between the Leeds Rhinos and Warrington Wolves at Headingley Stadium was one such occasion.

A big win for the Wolves, by a margin of more than twenty points, would see them back to the top of the table and while victory for the Rhinos would see them level with at least three other teams on points, they would need an unachievable winning margin of at least ninety-one points to overtake Wigan on points difference.

The bookies made the home side slight favourites for the win and handicapped them by four points on the coupon, it promised to be a close match between two sides who are still seeking some 2024 consistency.

The ‘Rivals’ Round of Super League 2024 threw together the Castleford Tigers and the Leeds Rhinos to renew old rivalries and fight for the all-important two points as the opening fixture of the Easter weekend got underway on Thursday night at Wheldon Road.

A first win of the season Castleford, and by a margin of fifteen or more points, would lift them above Hull FC and into tenth place in the table, while a victory for the Rhinos would see them above the other Hull club, Kingston Rovers, and into fifth spot, with a massive points win potentially putting them higher.

The home side had a fourteen-point start on the coupon, the bookies predicting that the Tigers awful start to the season would continue for at least another week.

St Helens were strong 18-8 winners over the Leeds Rhinos when tonight’s Challenge Cup hopefuls met in a regular round Super League encounter last weekend, and the bookies made the visitors slight favourites again by giving the Rhinos a two-point start on the handicap coupon.

The Rhinos had Paul Momirovski back in the centres alongside Rhyse Martin while Saints had Waqa Blake in the centres and Moses Mbye at scrum half for Lewis Dodd, and Curtis Sironen back in the starting line-up with Batchelor on the bench.

A place in the quarter finals was up for grabs and on paper there was little to choose between the two sides.

Despite home advantage, the Leeds Rhinos were given a four-point start on the handicap coupon as they took on the reigning Champions St Helens at Headingley Stadium in the sole Friday evening game in Super League XXIX.

Saints already had second place and knew that a win in excess of twenty-two points would see them above arch-rivals Wigan Warriors into top spot, the Rhinos knew that a win would lift them to second spot in the table overnight.

Saints were without the suspended Mark Percival after last week’s sending off and lost Tommy Makinson in the warm-up while Leeds had ex-Saint James Bentley back in their side after his suspension.

This was the first of two encounters between the two sides in two weeks.

Leigh Leopards were still seeking their first win of the season as they entered the fourth round of Super League XXIX with a game against a Leeds Rhinos side with their eyes on the top half of the table after a great win against the Catalans Dragons last time out.

The Rhinos were slight favourites with the bookies, but many pundits thought that it was too close to call with Leigh only getting a two-point start on the handicap coupon.

It was another week and another suspension for the Rhinos with James Bentley missing, but they did welcome back Mikolaj Oledzki, Leigh also made changes including the return of Tom Amone after a suspension, but they were still without John Asiata.