# 2022 Leeds Rhinos season

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 followed by losses at Wigan Warriors and at home to Catalans Dragons before their first win came in Round 4 with a 34–18 victory at Wakefield Trinity. Leeds had an early exit from the Challenge Cup with a 40–16 defeat by Castleford Tigers, 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. Interim head coach Jamie Jones-Buchanan oversaw wins against Toulouse Olympique and Hull Kingston Rovers before the arrival of the newly appointed Rohan Smith. Towards the end of the season, Leeds went on a run of six wins 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.
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. 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. The Grand Final took place on 24 September at Old Trafford where Leeds lost 24–12 to St Helens.

## Results
### Pre-season friendlies

W Win L Loss
Pre-season results :
| Date | Versus | H/A | Venue | Result | Score | Tries | Goals | Attendance | Report |
* ↑ Tom Briscoe Testimonial
* ↑ Harry Jepson OBE Memorial Cup

### Super League
#### Table

| Pos | Teamvte | 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 | Advance to Semi-finals |
| 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 | Advance to Elimination Finals |
| 5 | Leeds Rhinos | 27 | 14 | 1 | 12 | 577 | 528 | +49 | 29 | Advance to Elimination Finals |
| 6 | Salford Red Devils | 27 | 14 | 0 | 13 | 700 | 602 | +98 | 28 | Advance to Elimination Finals |
| 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 |

#### Super League results

W Win D Draw L Loss
Super League results :
| Date | Round | Versus | H/A | Venue | Result | Score | Tries | Goals | Attendance | Report |

#### Play-offs

Play-off results :
| Date | Round | Versus | H/A | Venue | Result | Score | Tries | Goals | Attendance | Report |

##### Team bracket

| Eliminators | Eliminators | Eliminators | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Grand Final | Grand Final | 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

W Win L Loss
Challenge Cup results :
| Date | Round | Versus | H/A | Venue | Result | Score | Tries | Goals | Attendance | Report |

### Club vs Country

W Win L 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
### Transfers
#### Gains

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

#### Losses

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