Brian McDermott concerned over Leeds seven-game losing streak

Leeds coach Brian McDermott made no excuses for their heavy loss at Wigan and is concerned about their seven-match losing streak.

The Rhinos lost 46-8 to the Warriors at the DW Stadium on Thursday, condemning them to their seventh straight Super League defeat.

Leeds sit seventh in the Super League table and McDermott admitted that he is concerned over their form.

He said: “The most disappointing thing is how much it wasn’t a contest.

“The scoreline hurts, it could have been a 30-odd scoreline but it was 40-odd and that hurts. For too many patches of the game, it wasn’t a contest.

“It is not an easy game to sum up. We conceded way too many tries and it was too easy for Wigan in the first half.

“We have still got some blokes who are learning harsh lessons that are probably not ready for it week in, week out, but that team was certainly good enough to compete and beat Wigan.

“I could give you some clichés and say that there is still some life in us and that we are not done yet and that would be true, but if you are asking me ‘am I concerned?’ – I am for sure. We have lost seven on the bounce and we can’t keep doing that.”

The Rhinos’ last win in Super League came at the back end of April but McDermott insists the team are not short on confidence.

He added: “Are we hacked off and sick of losing? Yeah, but it is not through lack of confidence.

“You get to a point in the week where you think you are going to win. We were thinking the day before that we would beat Wigan but when we are 18 points down on the scoreboard, the attitude changes.

“When you have lost seven games, it was too easy for us to think ‘this is going to be a hard fight’ rather than being on the back of seven wins because there would be more contest in us.

“It wasn’t a contest against Wigan. It was way too easy for them.”

The Rhinos will look to return to winning ways next Sunday when they travel to Castleford Tigers, 3:30pm kick-off.