Few would have believed that Leeds Rhinos would be battling it out at the bottom end of Super League come Magic Weekend when the season began.
Big-name signings such as Trent Merrin, Konrad Hurrell and Tui Lolohea were supposed to guide the summer era masters towards trophies, not trouble.
However, they have four wins from 15 games in the league and out of the Challenge Cup at the hands of lower-league Bradford.
It is a run of form that cost coach David Furner his job, and interim boss Richard Agar leads them into Sunday’s game against fellow strugglers London Broncos (Sunday, 15:30 BST).
The Broncos are coached by ex-Rhino Danny Ward, who along with his former player and coach dad David, is intrinsically linked with Leeds.
His coaching trajectory has been impressive, having produced an unlikely promotion to the top tier last season and now they continue to scrap for their lives.
It will be a interesting ‘four-pointer’ for both clubs when they slug it out on the lush Anfield turf.
“It just shows the competition this year and how tight it is, no one is automatically ruled out of being in the bottom half of the league,” Ward told BBC Radio London.
“It’s the evenness and strength of Super League competition that if you’re not ‘on’ on any given day, you’re going to get turned over.
“It’s tough on Leeds but they’ve got some good personnel there and I’m sure they will be working hard to fix it.”
