Gary Hetherington said Leeds will not underestimate the fight to retain their top-flight status in the Qualifiers, after the fixtures for the Super 8s were announced on Wednesday.
The Super League champions will open the second phase of their season with a trip to the part-time outfit Featherstone on Saturday 6 August, as the seven-game competition to determine who will take the four remaining spots in Super League next year gets underway.
Leeds must finish in the top three to secure automatic promotion and avoid being dragged into the Million Pound Game in September. They have won five of their last six games but Hetherington is wary of clubs aiming to take down the Rhinos in the “middle eight”.
“We’re aware of the reality and enormity of this,” Hetherington said. “At least one Super League team will be in the Million Pound Game so we are not complacent. Everyone will want to beat Leeds, whether it’s at home or away, so we’ll be well prepared.”
The future of Brian McDermott, who guided the club to the treble last year, has come under scrutiny, with the 46-year-old linked with a move away from Headingley after a disappointing season. However, Hetherington appeared to cool talk of a coaching departure at the Super 8s launch at Old Trafford.
He said: “I just keep reading what’s in the media, things keep cropping up and people must know something I don’t. That is not an issue that we at Leeds Rhinos are contemplating dealing with.”
In Super League, the race for Old Trafford begins next Thursday with a tie between Warrington and St Helens. The league leaders Hull FC will face Castleford Tigers the following night, with Wigan – the other side in the top four spots which determine the semi-finalists following the Super 8s – hosting Wakefield.
The Super 8s climaxed in spectacular fashion last year with Wigan, Leeds and Huddersfield vying for the League Leader’s Shield on the final night, and it appears the RFL has planned for a similar night in September. Three of the top four face each other, including second-placed Warrington travelling to Hull, with Wigan facing fifth-placed Catalans.
