Every word Brad Arthur laments Leeds Rhinos defeat, injuries and James Bentley’s absence

General thoughts
It’s disappointing for the fans, they came out and really supported us, they were loud, they got behind the boys. It would have been nice to send them off with a win. We tried hard enough and the effort was good enough to win, we just missed a little detail that put us under pressure. But it was better than last week.

We started well, we got into the grind, we went to the set, we jammed. We didn’t start great but we probably should have scored, you go 10-0 but they go at the other end, six to go (and score). But I stayed in, got to the front with six minutes to go. From there, you have to find a way to win.

It proved to me what I saw this week that they care and want to play well and get better. The effort has to be a given in the game and physically, but we have to find ways to win the game of football, that has to be the priority.

Jai Whitbread tries and the video ref is waiting
It took a long, long time, but I don’t know what the proper process is, so I don’t want to comment on that. But it will always be hard to topple him.

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First impressions of the Super League
I think there are some things in the ruck sometimes, it gets a bit messy, but it’s just the game, we’ll work with it.

Matt Frawley
I thought he was good, he hit well, he controlled the game well. He’s had some nice runs and performances, but he’s got to do that for us every week. He should be a senior player in this team. But I thought he was good, he took a step forward.

Injuries to Cam Smith and James Donaldson
Cam Smith had more cramps, worked on his back today and is probably getting better. With James, it’s an ankle problem, he’s kind of stiff. I’m not sure how bad it goes.

Enough evidence to believe the top six are hopeful?
Nine weeks away. That’s got to be the bottom line we’re after, but what we need to do is the things we did well today, do better and maintain that. On the back end of some of our tailbacks, we did a good job of keeping them in the red zone and getting them out of trouble. They have some 40/20 seconds, we need to tidy up, but if we improve the details; a few times I didn’t have someone in the game, I lost a bit of concentration. We fought for set for set footy and from the back we broke and got penalties, one tackle we throw it into touch, two tackles we touch it. When we learn to stay in it and get that detail right, we’ll be better for it.

Absence of James Bentley
He’s ready to go now. I don’t know much about him, we had some concerns around the outside back so we had to bench one. They got through thankfully which was good but he will be selected next week.

James Donaldson
He did a good job, he worked hard, didn’t he? He is a good footballer, hoenst, a good speaker, the boys respect him. He worked hard.

The Headingley Experience
I liked. It was different. I was quite old, but I enjoyed the experience all week. The club bent over backwards to make the transition easy. The support from our fans has been great. It was beautiful and loud and hopefully they saw enough in them to want to go back and watch them again. But I’ve already spoken to the boys, they want to see us try, but they want to see us win. They got into position, they were close enough, but close enough won’t be good enough.