Leeds Rhinos' Matt Frawley reflects on 'mixed bag', makes 'get better' pledge ahead of Huddersfield Giants

Rhinos have won four of their seven Betfred Super League matches so far and boast a 50 per cent record in all competitions going into Friday’s visit of Frawley’s former club Huddersfield Giants. “In terms of the start of the year, it probably has been a mixed bag,” the 29-year-old pivot reflected.

“We’ve got a group of players and a coaching staff who really care and want results straight away and want to be hitting the ground running, which is really important. But in reality there’s been a lot of changeover of players so we have to have patience as well.”

Frawley stressed: “Getting it right in terms of combinations is still a work in progress. There’s been signs, we’ve just got to do the good things we are doing in games for longer.

“We have had stages in games where we’ve conceded a try or an error and we’ve lost momentum. I think if we can tidy up those areas and stay in the game for longer, it is going to be beneficial for us.”

On a personal note, Frawley has played in all eight games so far following his move from NRL club Canberra Raiders and has a similar assessment of his own form. “There’s always room for improvement,” he conceded.

“We are still working on combinations and I think it has been solid without being anything to write home about. It is a process and I am looking to get better every week. My body feels good so hopefully I can have a good game this week.”

The Aussie may have a point to prove on Friday following an ill-fated 22-game spell at Huddersfield in 2019, when he made 22 appearances. He was released midway through a two-year deal, ironically to make way for Aidan Sezer who he in turn replaced as Rhinos’ number seven.

But that was a long time ago in rugby terms and Frawley insisted he is treating his first meeting with Giants as he would any other match. He said: “It was a fair few years ago now and there’s been a lot of turnover of players there. There’s a few familiar faces and a few mates there, but it’s pretty much a different squad. It is just another game and another one we want to win.”

From Rhinos’ perspective though, three straight home defeats have made it a key fixture. Giants are sixth in the table, two places ahead of Leeds on points difference and another loss would see a gap open up between Rhinos and the play-off places. Leeds were humbled 34-8 by Warrington Wolves last time out and Frawley admitted: “We were all bitterly disappointed with that performance.

“Having a bye on the end of it is a bit of a blessing, but also frustrating because you want to get out there and make the wrongs right. It is a big game, but I think the week off was good for us and we’ve had chance to have a bit of a reflection on the start of the year and focus on moving forward, which is going to be important for us.”

Rhinos trained throughout last week, despite having no game at the end of it. “That was important,” Frawley stated. “Body-wise, it is still pretty early in the year so all the niggles you get at the back end we don’t have yet and we can afford to train a bit harder.

“We had a few hard sessions; we had a really hard session on Friday to set us up for the weekend, we rested up over the weekend and everybody was fresh for Monday. It has been a good week and hopefully we should be ready to go for Friday.”

Giants were in Challenge Cup action last Saturday, coming away from Catalans Dragons with a shock 34-6 victory which Frawley hailed as a “massive win for them”. He observed: “They have got some quality players. I have played with and against a few of them and they’ve brought in some quality with people like Adam Clune and Jack Murchie. They have won some good games and put some scores on teams so we know we are going to have to play well. I think the focus is more on ourselves; respecting their threat and the players they’ve got, but focussing on what we do.”