2022 Leeds Rhinos season

2022 Leeds Rhinos season
Super League Rank	5
Challenge Cup	Sixth Round
2022 record	Wins: 14; draws: 1; losses: 13
Points scored	For: 577; against: 528
Team information
Chairman	Paul Caddick
Head Coach	Richard Agar (until March 2022) Jamie Jones-Buchanan (interim) Rohan Smith (from April 2022)
Captain	Kruise Leeming & Ash Handley
Stadium	Headingley Leeds, United Kingdom
Avg. attendance	12,382
High attendance	15,418 (v Castleford Tigers)
Top scorers
Tries	Ash Handley (17)
Goals	Rhyse Martin (84)
Points	Rhyse Martin (212)
←  2021 List of seasons 2023  →

This article details the Leeds Rhinos's rugby league football club's 2022 season. They were coached by Richard Agar until May 2022, Jamie Jones-Buchanan as an interim coach and Rohan Smith from April 2022 onwards. The Rhinos competed in both the 2022 Betfred Super League and the 2022 Challenge Cup.

Season review

On 12 February, Leeds began their Super League campaign with a 22–20 loss to Warrington Wolves ^[1] followed by losses at Wigan Warriors ^[2] and at home to Catalans Dragons ^[3] before their first win came in Round 4 with a 34–18 victory at Wakefield Trinity. ^[4] Leeds had an early exit from the Challenge Cup with a 40–16 defeat by Castleford Tigers, ^[5] and their run of poor results leading to the departure of Richard Agar as head coach meant that by mid-April Leeds were 11th in the table. ^{[6] [7]} Interim head coach Jamie Jones-Buchanan oversaw wins against Toulouse Olympique and Hull Kingston Rovers before the arrival of the newly appointed Rohan Smith. ^{[7] [8]} Towards the end of the season, Leeds went on a run of six wins ^[9] before suffering a 32–18 loss to Catalans Dragons at the end of August. It meant that to qualify for the play-offs Leeds needed to avoid defeat in the final round of the regular season against Castleford, which they achieved with two late tries that gave them a 14–8 victory. ^{[10] [11]}

Leeds began their play-off campaign by travelling to Perpignan where a hat-trick by Liam Sutcliffe gave them a 20–10 win over Catalans Dragons. ^[12] Leeds faced Wigan in the semi-final. At half time the score was 4–2 to Wigan, but a try from Jarrod O'Connor (his first for Leeds) and two from James Bentley saw Leeds reach their 11th Grand Final with a 20–8 win. ^[13] The Grand Final took place on 24 September at Old Trafford where Leeds lost 24–12 to St Helens. ^[6]

Results

Pre-season friendlies

W WinL Loss

Pre-season results

Date	Versus	H/A	Venue	Result	Score	Tries	Goals	Attendance	Report
26 December 2021	Wakefield Trinity	H	Headingley	W	34–6				[14]
23 January	Bradford Bulls	A	Odsal Stadium	W	30–12			7,237	[15]
30 January	Hull F.C.	A	Headingley	W	38–6				[a] [16]
6 February	Hunslet	A	South Leeds Stadium	L	6–34	McConnell	Sinfield		[b] [17]

1. Tom Briscoe Testimonial
2. Harry Jepson OBE Memorial Cup

Super League

Main article: 2022 Super League season

Table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	St Helens (C, L)	27	21	0	6	674	374	+300	42	Advance to Semi-finals
2	Wigan Warriors	27	19	0	8	818	483	+335	38
3	Huddersfield Giants	27	17	1	9	613	497	+116	35	Advance to Elimination Finals
4	Catalans Dragons	27	16	0	11	539	513	+26	32
5	Leeds Rhinos	27	14	1	12	577	528	+49	29
6	Salford Red Devils	27	14	0	13	700	602	+98	28
7	Castleford Tigers	27	13	0	14	544	620	−76	26
8	Hull Kingston Rovers	27	12	0	15	498	608	−110	24
9	Hull FC	27	11	0	16	508	675	−167	22
10	Wakefield Trinity	27	10	0	17	497	648	−151	20
11	Warrington Wolves	27	9	0	18	568	664	−96	18
12	Toulouse Olympique (R)	27	5	0	22	421	745	−324	10	Relegated to the Championship

Source:
(C) Champions; (L) League Leaders' Shield Winners; (R) Relegated

Super League results

W WinD DrawL Loss

Super League results

Date	Round	Versus	H/A	Venue	Result	Score	Tries	Goals	Attendance	Report
12 February	1	Warrington Wolves	H	Headingley	L	20–22	Handley, Prior, Tetevano	Martin (4)	14,135	RLP
18 February	2	Wigan Warriors	A	DW Stadium	L	12–34	Austin, Prior	Sezer (2)	12,575	RLP
24 February	3	Catalans Dragons	H	Headingley	L	4–10	Austin		10,655	RLP
3 March	4	Wakefield Trinity	A	Be Well Support Stadium	W	34–18	Handley (3), Fusitu'a, Gannon, Newman	Martin (5)	5,040	RLP
10 March	5	Hull FC	H	Headingley	L	8–31	Briscoe, Sutcliffe		11,552	RLP
18 March	6	Salford Red Devils	A	AJ Bell Stadium	L	12–26	Handley, Oledzki	Martin (2)	5,756	RLP
1 April	7	St Helens	H	Headingley	L	0–26			6,519	RLP
14 April	8	Huddersfield Giants	H	Headingley	D	20–20	Gannon, Martin, Sutcliffe	Martin (4)	11,286	RLP
18 April	9	Castleford Tigers	A	Mend-A-Hose Jungle	L	14–16	Martin (2)	Martin (3)	9,372	RLP
22 April	10	Toulouse Olympique	H	Headingley	W	25–14	Dwyer (2), Briscoe, Donaldson	Martin (4)	11,167	RLP
29 April	11	Hull KR	H	Headingley	W	12–0	Gannon, Prior	Martin (2)	13,333	RLP
15 May	12	Salford Red Devils	A	AJ Bell Stadium	L	8–23	Handley, Oledzki		4,473	RLP
20 May	13	Wakefield Trinity	H	Headingley	W	24–6	Bentley (2), Austin, Fusitu'a	Martin (4)	14,190	RLP
3 June	14	Warrington Wolves	A	Halliwell Jones Stadium	W	40–4	Fusitu'a (2), Handley (2), Donaldson, Hardaker, Leeming, Thompson	Martin (4)	9,984	RLP
10 June	15	Huddersfield Giants	A	John Smiths Stadium	L	16–30	Handley, Hardaker, Sutcliffe	Martin (2)	6,712	RLP
23 June	16	St Helens	A	Totally Wicked Stadium	L	12–42	Newman, Thompson	Martin (2)	11,288	RLP
2 July	17	Hull FC	A	MKM Stadium	W	62–16	Handley (5), Leeming (2), Fusitu'a, Myler, Oledzki, Sutcliffe	Martin (9)	10,682	RLP
9 July	18	Castleford Tigers	N	St James' Park	W	34–20	Bentley, Handley, Myler, Prior, Sezer, Sutcliffe	Martin (5)	36,821	RLP
16 July	19	Toulouse Olympique	A	Stade Ernest Wallon	L	6–20	Dwyer	Martin	4,230	RLP
21 July	20	Wigan Warriors	H	Headingley	W	42–12	Bentley, Dwyer, Martin, Mustapha, Newman, Smith, Sutcliffe	Martin (7)	13,368	RLP
30 July	21	Catalans Dragons	A	Stade Gilbert Brutus	W	36–32	Myler (3), Dwyer, Sezer, Sutcliffe	Martin (6)	8,165	RLP
7 August	22	Salford Red Devils	H	Headingley	W	34–14	Martin (2), Handley, Myler, Newman	Martin (7)	14,668	RLP
12 August	23	Hull Kingston Rovers	A	Sewell Group Craven Park	W	28–20	Gannon (2), Myler (2), Dwyer	Hardaker (4)	8,028	RLP
19 August	24	Warrington Wolves	H	Headingley	W	24–18	Gannon, Handley, Martin, Tetevano	Martin (4)	13,152	RLP
24 August	25	Huddersfield Giants	H	Headingley	W	18–14	Austin, Martin, Myler	Martin (3)	11,225	RLP
29 August	26	Catalans Dragons	A	Stade Gilbert Brutus	L	18–32	Dwyer, Myler, Walters	Martin (3)	9,802	RLP
3 September	27	Castleford Tigers	H	Headingley	W	14–8	Sutcliffe (3)	Hardaker (4)	15,418	RLP

Play-offs

Play-off results

Date	Round	Versus	H/A	Venue	Result	Score	Tries	Goals	Attendance	Report
10 September	Eliminators	Catalans Dragons	A	Stade Gilbert Brutus	W	20–10	Sutcliffe(3)	Hardaker (4)	9,514	RLP
16 September	Semi-finals	Wigan Warriors	A	DW Stadium	W	20–8	Bentley (2), O'Connor	Hardaker (4)	12,777	RLP
24 September	Grand Final	St Helens	N	Old Trafford	L	12–24	Leeming, Martin	Martin (2)	60,783	RLP

Team bracket

	Eliminators					Semi-finals					Grand Final
						2	Wigan Warriors	8
	4	Catalans Dragons	10			5	Leeds Rhinos	20
	5	Leeds Rhinos	20								5	Leeds Rhinos	12
											1	St Helens	24
						1	St Helens	19
	3	Huddersfield Giants	0			6	Salford Red Devils	12
	6	Salford Red Devils	28

Source:Rugby League Project

Challenge Cup

Main article: 2022 Challenge Cup

W WinL Loss

Challenge Cup results

Date	Round	Versus	H/A	Venue	Result	Score	Tries	Goals	Attendance	Report
26 March	6	Castleford Tigers	H	Headingley	L	16–40	Martin (2), Sutcliffe	Martin (2)	5,112	RLP

Club vs Country

W WinL Loss

Date	Versus	H/A	Venue	Result	Score	Tries	Goals	Attendance	Report
8 October	New Zealand	H	Headingley	L	0–74			9,125	RLP

Players

Squad

Leeds Rhinos 2022 Squad

First team squad								Coaching staff
1 Jack Walker – FB 2 David Fusitu'a – WG 3 Harry Newman – CE 4 Liam Sutcliffe – CE, SO, FB 5 Ash Handley – WG 6 Blake Austin – SO 7 Aidan Sezer – SH 8 Mikolaj Olędzki – PR 9 Kruise Leeming – HK 10 Matt Prior (c) – PR 11 James Bentley – SR 12 Rhyse Martin – SR, CE 13 Zane Tetevano – PR, LF		14 Brad Dwyer – HK 15 16 Richie Myler – FB, SH 17 Cameron Smith – LF 18 Tom Holroyd – PR 19 Bodene Thompson – SR, PR 20 Tom Briscoe – CE, WG 21 Morgan Gannon – SR 22 Sam Walters – PR 23 Jack Broadbent – CE, FB 24 Jarrod O'Connor – HK, LF 25 James Donaldson – SR, LF 26 Corey Johnson – HK, SO, SH		27 Muizz Mustapha – PR 28 Max Simpson – CE 29 Liam Tindall – WG, SO 30 Levi Edwards – SR 31 Oli Field – SO, LF 32 Jack Sinfield – SO, SH 33 Zak Hardaker – FB, CE				Head coach Rohan Smith Assistant coaches Sean Long Jamie Jones Buchanan Legend: (c) Captain(s) (vc) Vice-captain(s) Updated: 20 April 2022 Source(s): 2022 Squad Numbers

Transfers

Gains

Player	Club	Contract length	Date
James Bentley	St Helens	2 Years	June 2021 [18]
Aidan Sezer	Huddersfield Giants		July 2021 [19]
Blake Austin	Warrington Wolves	1 Year	August 2021 [20]
David Fusitu’a	New Zealand Warriors	2 Years	October 2021 [21]

Losses

Player	Club	Contract length	Date
Stevie Ward	Retired	—	January 2021 [22]
Kyle Eastmond		May 2021 [23]
Alex Sutcliffe	Castleford Tigers	2 Years	September 2021 [24]
Callum McLelland			October 2021 [25]
King Vuniyayawa	Salford Red Devils		October 2021 [26]
Konrad Hurrell	St Helens	1 Year	October 2021 [27]
Luke Briscoe	Featherstone Rovers		October 2021 [28]
Robert Lui	North Queensland Cowboys		November 2021 [29]
Luke Gale	Hull FC		November 2021 [30]
Corey Hall	Wakefield Trinity		November 2021
Corey Johnson	Bradford Bulls	1 Year Loan	December 2021 [31]
Muizz Mustapha
Jarrod O'Connor

References

1. "Betfred Super League Round-Up | Round 1". RFL. 13 February 2022. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
2. "Betfred Super League Round-Up | Round 2". RFL. 20 February 2022. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
3. "Betfred Super League round-up". RFL. 28 February 2022. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
4. "Betfred Super League Round-Up". RFL. 6 March 2022. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
5. "Betfred Challenge Cup Round 6 Round-Up". RFL. 27 March 2022. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
6. "Saints make history by completing four-peat". RFL. 24 September 2022. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
7. "Betfred Super League Round 11 round-up". RFL. 1 May 2022. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
8. "Betfred Super League Round 10 round-up". RFL. 24 April 2022. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
9. "Betfred Super League Round-Up | Round 25". RFL. 26 August 2022. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
10. "Betfred Super League Round-Up |publisher=RFL". 30 August 2022. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
11. "Betfred Super League Round-Up | Round 27". RFL. 3 September 2022. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
12. "Betfred Super League Round-Up | September 10". RFL. 10 September 2022. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
13. "Leeds and St Helens to meet in Betfred Super League Grand Final". RFL. 18 September 2022. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
14. "Leeds beat Wakefield in Boxing Day Friendly". RFL. 26 December 2021. Retrieved 15 February 2024.
15. "Pre-Season round-up | January 23". RFL. 23 January 2022. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
16. "Leeds Rhinos talking points: Win over Hull FC capped successful pre-season campaign". Yorkshire Evening Post. 31 January 2022. Retrieved 10 February 2024.
17. "Powerful Hunslet too strong for Rhinos". Hunslet RLFC. 7 February 2022. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
18. "Leeds Rhinos sign James Bentley from St Helens on 2 year deal". Sky Sports. 18 June 2021. Retrieved 18 September 2022.
19. "Leeds sign Aiden Sezer from Huddersfield on 2 year deal". SkySports. 19 July 2021. Retrieved 18 September 2022.
20. "Leeds sign Blake Austin from Warrington on 1 Year deal". loverugbyleague. 4 August 2021. Retrieved 18 September 2022.
21. "David Fusitua joins Leeds on 2 Year deal". SkySports. 18 October 2021. Retrieved 18 September 2022.
22. "Stevie Ward forced to retire due to concussions". Sky Sports. 5 January 2021. Retrieved 18 September 2022.
23. "Kyle Eastmond retires from professional rugby". Sky Sports. 17 May 2021. Retrieved 18 September 2022.
24. "Castleford Tigers confirm signing of Alex Sutcliffe". Sky Sports. 21 September 2021. Retrieved 18 September 2022.
25. "Castleford re-sign Callum Mclelland". BBC Sport. 11 October 2021. Retrieved 18 September 2022.
26. "Salford sign Vuniyayawa from Leeds". BBC Sport. 9 October 2021. Retrieved 18 September 2022.
27. "St Helens sign Konrad Hurrell on 1 Year deal from Leeds". Sky Sports. 22 October 2021. Retrieved 18 September 2022.
28. "Luke Briscoe returns to Featherstone". Sky Sports. 27 October 2021. Retrieved 18 September 2022.
29. "Rob Lui makes shock rugby league comeback". seriousaboutrl. 30 November 2021. Retrieved 18 September 2022.
30. "Luke Gale joins Hull FC on 1 year deal". skysports. 5 November 2021. Retrieved 18 September 2022.
31. "Bradford Bulls announce the signing of three Leeds Rhinos players". loverugbyleague.com. Retrieved 15 June 2021.

External links

• Official Club site
• Principal fan site and forum
• Super League Site
• Leeds Rhinos Dedicated section on RugbyLeague.com
• Leeds Rhinos History
• Rugby League Project - Super League XXVII 2022 - Leeds Rhinos