Leeds Rhinos coach Rohan Smith issues danger warning ahead of Super League clash v Wakefield Trinity

Trinity are on a run of 16 successive league and cup defeats, including every game in 2023 and their final fixture of last term.

They have managed just 87 points in Betfred Super League this year, conceding 412 - an average score of 29-6 - and began the round six points adrift of second-bottom Castleford Tigers.

But Leeds have a poor record against teams near the foot of the table. Two of Castleford’s three wins have come against Rhinos, including last Saturday at Magic Weekend and the visitors are desperate to avoid another upset at Be Well Support Stadium, Belle Vue, tomorrow.

Rhinos have a history of losing to teams who go on to be relegated, including Castleford in 2006 and London Broncos during the 2014 - when they were the only side beaten by them - and 2019 seasons.

They are also in a form slump of their own, with just one win from their last five matches in all competitions and Smith insisted: “Every opponent is respected as a dangerous one because they are the only one you are playing against.”

He said: “The table is irrelevant, as the competition has shown us this year; a team starts the season winning seven or eight in a row, then they lose a couple in a row.

“Some teams sitting in the top-six have lost three or four in a row. It is a close competition and we have been a part of that.

“We have been in a lot of close games, including last weekend. The performances aren’t quite at the standard we’d want, particularly last weekend.

“We’ve had some other good performances where we haven’t got a result. We’ve played better in some of our losing games than some of the ones we’ve won.

“Obviously it’s about getting the result, but the closeness of the competition is fantastic and should be appreciated and promoted.

“Table watching is not helpful, you are chasing two points every week, no matter who you are playing against.”

Wakefield’s plight and high turnover of players makes them a difficult team to prepare against, according to the Leeds boss.

Rhinos won 26-0 when the teams met at Headingley in March, but it was scoreless at half-time and Smith noted: “They have had a lot of different personnel and different combinations.

“They are trying a lot of different things to try and get a result, so it is hard to know exactly what they’ll look like this week, but we had a particularly tough battle with them at home on a snowy weekend three months back and they’ve made a lot of good teams really work hard for their result.

“We are under no illusions, they will be throwing everything they’ve got and certainly for us, our focus is on cleaning up some things from last week and building some more rhythm and consistency, for more of an 80-minute performance. Last week we probably had 50 or 60 minutes covered.”