For Leeds Rhinos fans, the sheer thought of losing on Friday is one they dare not consider. The visit of Toulouse Olympique sees the Rhinos engage in a basement battle of the Super League and defeat will leave them rock bottom approaching the halfway stage of the season.
Many have brushed off the idea of a relegation battle but reality will be staring straight in the face of everyone if the unthinkable happens and Leeds lose to the newly-promoted French club, who have managed just one win all season themselves.
Write Toulouse off at your peril. They lost to Wigan by one, Hull KR by four and Catalans by eight. They are the only team to beat Super League champions St Helens in the last seven months. Granted, all of those results have been at home and on their travels to England they have been woeful. Their three trips so far have seen them lose by 26 points twice and by 12 points the other. They were all against teams in the bottom half of the table.
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Given that there are absolutely no excuses for Leeds when they take to the field on Friday. No talk of injuries, no talk of suspensions, they have to win this game. If they don't, Rohan Smith's job will become a whole lot more difficult.
For Smith to start planning for the future, the Rhinos need to ease their way out of a relegation battle and, at worst, consolidate in mid-table. Focus can then be put on recruitment, he can experiment with playing styles and try put players in different scenarios. If they stay where they are, his focus will be on getting wins week-to-week. Simply, it will be to survive. That won't do him any good in trying to sort things out with an eye on 2023.
And that's where his primary focus needs to be. Both players and interim coach Jamie Jones-Buchanan keep trying to ease fears by pointing out it's still early in the season. But that's not really the case anymore. They're now entering the middle third of the campaign. The season is barely salvageable and if they lose on Friday, all they'll be playing for is Super League status.
Whether it is believed inside the four walls of Headingley remains to be seen but the idea that things can be turned around so drastically that the Rhinos can mount a play-off push is ludicrous. Their performance against Huddersfield was an improvement but there was little to take from the Castleford game. The size of upturn the Rhinos need to see to dare dream of a top six finish is enormous.
For now, they just need to make sure they don't spiral to a whole new low.
