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

DateVersusH/AVenueResultScoreTriesGoalsAttendanceReport+Pre-season results 26 December 2021 Wakefield Trinity H Headingley 34–6 23 January Bradford Bulls A Odsal Stadium 30–12 7,237 30 January Hull F.C. A Headingley 38–6 6 February Hunslet A South Leeds Stadium 6–34 McConnell Sinfield

Super League

Table

Super League results

DateRoundVersusH/AVenueResultScoreTriesGoalsAttendanceReport+Super League results 12 February 1 Warrington Wolves H Headingley 20–22 Handley, Prior, Tetevano Martin (4) 14,135 RLP 18 February 2 Wigan Warriors A DW Stadium 12–34 Austin, Prior Sezer (2) 12,575 RLP 24 February 3 Catalans Dragons H Headingley 4–10 Austin 10,655 RLP 3 March 4 Wakefield Trinity A Be Well Support Stadium 34–18 Handley (3), Fusitu'a, Gannon, Newman Martin (5) 5,040 RLP 10 March 5 Hull FC H Headingley 8–31 Briscoe, Sutcliffe 11,552 RLP 18 March 6 Salford Red Devils A AJ Bell Stadium 12–26 Handley, Oledzki Martin (2) 5,756 RLP 1 April 7 St Helens H Headingley 0–26 6,519 RLP 14 April 8 Huddersfield Giants H Headingley 20–20 Gannon, Martin, Sutcliffe Martin (4) 11,286 RLP 18 April 9 Castleford Tigers A Mend-A-Hose Jungle 14–16 Martin (2) Martin (3) 9,372 RLP 22 April 10 Toulouse Olympique H Headingley 25–14 Dwyer (2), Briscoe, Donaldson Martin (4) 11,167 RLP 29 April 11 Hull KR H Headingley 12–0 Gannon, Prior Martin (2) 13,333 RLP 15 May 12 Salford Red Devils A AJ Bell Stadium 8–23 Handley, Oledzki 4,473 RLP 20 May 13 Wakefield Trinity H Headingley 24–6 Bentley (2), Austin, Fusitu'a Martin (4) 14,190 RLP 3 June 14 Warrington Wolves A Halliwell Jones Stadium 40–4 Fusitu'a (2), Handley (2), Donaldson, Hardaker, Leeming, Thompson Martin (4) 9,984 RLP 10 June 15 Huddersfield Giants A John Smiths Stadium 16–30 Handley, Hardaker, Sutcliffe Martin (2) 6,712 RLP 23 June 16 St Helens A Totally Wicked Stadium 12–42 Newman, Thompson Martin (2) 11,288 RLP 2 July 17 Hull FC A MKM Stadium 62–16 Handley (5), Leeming (2), Fusitu'a, Myler, Oledzki, Sutcliffe Martin (9) 10,682 RLP 9 July 18 Castleford Tigers N St James' Park 34–20 Bentley, Handley, Myler, Prior, Sezer, Sutcliffe Martin (5) 36,821 RLP 16 July 19 Toulouse Olympique A Stade Ernest Wallon 6–20 Dwyer Martin 4,230 RLP 21 July 20 Wigan Warriors H Headingley 42–12 Bentley, Dwyer, Martin, Mustapha, Newman, Smith, Sutcliffe Martin (7) 13,368 RLP 30 July 21 Catalans Dragons A Stade Gilbert Brutus 36–32 Myler (3), Dwyer, Sezer, Sutcliffe Martin (6) 8,165 RLP 7 August 22 Salford Red Devils H Headingley 34–14 Martin (2), Handley, Myler, Newman Martin (7) 14,668 RLP 12 August 23 Hull Kingston Rovers A Sewell Group Craven Park 28–20 Gannon (2), Myler (2), Dwyer Hardaker (4) 8,028 RLP 19 August 24 Warrington Wolves H Headingley 24–18 Gannon, Handley, Martin, Tetevano Martin (4) 13,152 RLP 24 August 25 Huddersfield Giants H Headingley 18–14 Austin, Martin, Myler Martin (3) 11,225 RLP 29 August 26 Catalans Dragons A Stade Gilbert Brutus 18–32 Dwyer, Myler, Walters Martin (3) 9,802 RLP 3 September 27 Castleford Tigers H Headingley 14–8 Sutcliffe (3) Hardaker (4) 15,418 RLP

Play-offs

DateRoundVersusH/AVenueResultScoreTriesGoalsAttendanceReport+Play-off results 10 September Eliminators Catalans Dragons A Stade Gilbert Brutus 20–10 Sutcliffe(3) Hardaker (4) 9,514 RLP 16 September Semi-finals Wigan Warriors A DW Stadium 20–8 Bentley (2), O'Connor Hardaker (4) 12,777 RLP 24 September Grand Final St Helens N Old Trafford 12–24 Leeming, Martin Martin (2) 60,783 RLP Team bracket

Source:Rugby League Project

Challenge Cup

DateRoundVersusH/AVenueResultScoreTriesGoalsAttendanceReport+Challenge Cup results 26 March 6 Castleford Tigers H Headingley 16–40 Martin (2), Sutcliffe Martin (2) 5,112 RLP

Club vs Country

DateVersusH/AVenueResultScoreTriesGoalsAttendanceReport 8 October H Headingley 0–74 9,125 RLP

Players Squad

Transfers Gains Player Club Contract length Date James Bentley St Helens2 Years June 2021 Aidan Sezer Huddersfield Giants 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 WardRetiredrowspan=2 January 2021 Kyle Eastmond May 2021 Alex SutcliffeCastleford Tigers 2 Years September 2021 Callum McLelland October 2021 King Vuniyayawa Salford Red Devils October 2021 Konrad Hurrell St Helens 1 Year October 2021 Luke Briscoe Featherstone Rovers October 2021 Robert Lui North Queensland Cowboys November 2021 Luke Gale Hull FC November 2021 Corey Hall Wakefield Trinity November 2021 Corey JohnsonBradford Bulls 1 Year LoanDecember 2021 Muizz Mustapha Jarrod O'Connor

References

External links Official Club site Principal fan site and forum Super League Site Leeds Rhinos Dedicated section on RugbyLeague.com Leeds Rhinos History Rugby League Project - Super League XXVII 2022 - Leeds Rhinos