Seven games into Leeds Rhinos' season and it is still practically impossible to get a genuine gauge on Rohan Smith's men. But what is a given is that they're infuriating. That there is no getting away from.
Friday night's defeat to Hull KR was irritably predictable for Leeds Rhinos supporters. Because this is a team that, to present, appears incapable of producing back-to-back performances. After an excellent win over Catalans Dragons they practically gift-wrapped Willie Peters' Rovers two points.
All three of the hosts' tries were off errors, and bad errors at that. Derrell Olpherts let a ball bounce, Luke Hooley let a grubber squirm free underneath the sticks, then Leeds were incapable of fielding a kick-off. KR kicked penalty goals after a dropout didn't go ten and for dispersing from a scrum before the ball had come out. All 20 of Hull KR's points were avoidable, all self-inflicted.
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The inconsistency of this team so far has been galling. But the problem is that it's widespread too. There are too many individuals whose best performance and worst performance are seismically different, they can be brilliant one week and then way off it the next.
But then collectively the frustration is that there's not one thing that is a persistent problem. Against Warrington they were physically dominated, against Hull FC they were wasteful, Castleford was totally uninspiring and against KR they were unable to handle the conditions.
Nobody is questioning the effort. It's clearly not a case of downing tools one week and then picking them back up the next. But the contrasting levels of skill and detail are alarming at times. The Rhinos completed at 39 per cent in the first half. Horrid conditions or not, that's not good enough, nowhere near good enough in fact.
The kicking game against Catalans was good. On Friday it absolutely was not. Some games this season, Leeds have impressed physically, but then the Robins had no issue at all marching up field with basic, direct rugby through the middle.
But then there are the smaller things. The inability to put any form of pressure on Jordan Abdull when he was coordinating his next aerial bombardment. The passes which should allow payers to run onto them but instead end up at the shoulder and break the attack down. There are too many small details like that Leeds can't get right every week.
Leeds' application of the smallest details is a problem. Take Derrell Olpherts and Luke Hooley's catalogue of errors. Yes, they were poor errors. But who was trying to deny, or at very least apply pressure to Abdull when he was kicking? Who was acting as a shield for the catcher?
It's a collective effort, one based on small details, and Leeds aren't doing them consistently enough week to week. That, ultimately, needs to be sorted out as it threatens to stifle Leeds' credentials as a genuine threat.
Consistency is a mysterious beast. How do you become consistent? You train, train, train, but nobody is doubting that's lacking. But clearly, there is something stopping Leeds from performing every week at present. That's the issue to sort. Because it's not a lack of talent, and that's the bit that frustrates.
After a controversial swap deal that has got people talking, the latest House of League episode welcomes Hull KR and Wakefield Trinity CEOs Paul Lakin and Michael Carter, who give their take on the Corey Hall/Will Dagger trade, plus lots more. You can listen to the full show below or alternatively subscribe on Spotify, Amazon Music or Apple Music.
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