Leeds Rhinos' narrow victory over Catalans Dragons last weekend has more significance than you may first think. Yes, it was huge in terms of the Rhinos' play-off hopes with the final weeks of the season approaching, but it also bucked two separate trends which have lingered across Leeds' performances since Rohan Smith took charge.
The victory in Perpignan was Smith's tenth match in charge, and the previous nine have followed similar patterns throughout. Whenever Leeds have scored first in a match under Smith, they have gone on to win. The five times they have broke the deadlock - against Wakefield, Warrington, Hull FC, Castleford and Wigan - the outcome has fallen Leeds' way.
In the other four, Leeds have conceded first. They all resulted in defeats to Salford - Smith's first match - Huddersfield, St Helens and Toulouse. So when Catalans opened the scoring on Saturday evening, any Leeds fans with a keen eye for stats and form may have feared the worst.
