Wigan 24 Leeds 4: Arthur brushes off uncertainty talk

Leeds Rhinos' five-game unbeaten run came to an end as they went down 24-4 to Wigan Warriors at the DW Stadium; star halfback Brodie Croft has been subject of speculation linking him with a move to Warrington Wolves from 2027; Leeds head coach Brad Arthur denied any uncertainty may have contributed to Friday's defeat

Marc Bazeley

May 16, 2026

Picture by Olly Hassell/SWpix.com - 15/05/2026 - Rugby League - Betfred Super League Round 11 - Wigan Warriors v Leeds Rhinos - The Brick Community Stadium, Wigan, England - Ryan Hall of Leeds fails to stop Adam Keighran of Wigan from scoring a try

BRAD Arthur shrugged off any suggestion renewed uncertainty around Leeds Rhinos played a part in Friday’s 24-4 defeat away to Wigan Warriors.

Reports linking star halfback Brodie Croft with a switch to Super League rivals Warrington Wolves for 2027 as George Williams’ replacement emerged this week, while head coach Arthur’s future is again unclear beyond the end of this campaign.

Yet the 51-year-old insisted none of that had any impact as Leeds’ five-game unbeaten run came to an end at the DW Stadium to leave them two points behind leaders St Helens.

“No, definitely not,” Arthur told Sky Sports. “Look, [Wigan] played really well, they defended well, and I think they completed above 90 percent.

“I think we just got beat on the basics. We’ll dust ourselves off and go again.”

Tries from Jack Farrimond, Noah Hodkinson, Jake Wardle and Adam Keighran – who also kicked four goals – saw the Challenge Cup finalists emerge victorious and move fifth in the Super League standings.

Despite having 35 play-the-balls in the opposing 20-metre zone to just 15 for Wigan, Leeds’ only score came from competition leading scorer Maika Sivo’s 18th of the season inside the final 15 minutes.

They did, however, controversially have one chalked off by the video referee in the first half when Ash Handley was ruled to have knocked on in goal despite appearing to bat a bouncing ball backwards for Ryan Hall to dot down.

But Arthur made no excuses for the loss.

“I thought our effort was really good and our physicality was really good, and our identity was good,” Arthur said.

“But they were just too good for us on both sides of the ball, especially on the last tackle.

“There were some big moments where they completed high and we didn’t do well enough, but I thought we tried really hard.”