Brad Arthur piles praise on Leeds’ try-scoring machine Maika Sivo after Warrington win
Rhinos managed a 34-6 win over Wolves last night
Last updated 19th Jun 2026
Leeds boss Brad Arthur paid tribute to lean, mean try-scoring machine Maika Sivo after the winger scored his fifth hat-trick of the season in his side’s thumping 34-6 win over Warrington.
Sivo was simply unstoppable as the Rhinos roared clear at the top of the table on the back of a 10-minute burst towards the end of the second half that all but ended the hosts’ run of six consecutive top-flight wins.
Sivo has pulled clear at the top of this season’s try-scoring charts with 25 to his name in the league alone, and Arthur admitted: “I’m so pleased for him, he’s such a likeable person and the boys love being around him.
“He’s scoring a lot of tries but he’s been working really hard on keeping his weight around 109 kilos. He hasn’t got an ounce of fat on him – the leaner he can be the more we can get out of him and he’s worked really hard on that.”
Arthur was particularly pleased with the way his side shrugged off some relatively indifferent displays away from home to nail an 80-minute performance which makes them favourites to continue their march towards the League Leaders’ Shield.
“Our away games haven’t been as important as our home games so we just had to focus in the last couple of weeks about being more professional away from home, and we’re getting closer to that tonight,” added Arthur.
Sam Burgess had few complaints about the manner of his side’s defeat and admitted he ended the night relieved that the Rhinos did not seize their opportunities to make the final scoreline even more embarrassing for the hosts.
Leeds looked set to cruise towards 50 points around the hour mark but Warrington dug in well and even had the consolation of sending Matty Ashton over in the dying moments to at least get a try on the board.
Burgess said: “I’m quite happy they didn’t get to 50 points because at one point in the second half, with their style of play, everything was sticking, and there was a point where I thought ‘this could get very dangerous’.
“I’m very happy we scrambled the game back, but we had a tough night and they made us pay. I didn’t feel the half-time scoreline reflected the play but they made us pay in the second half. When they get in a mood like that they’re very hard to handle.”
Burgess urged patience with his young spine, with Josh Thewlis still evolving into his relatively new role at full-back, while Aaron Lindop also returned to the starting line-up for the first time in 12 months after injury.
“Breaking us down in the first half, it was a trick play and a couple of missed tackles,” added Burgess. “But as long as we’re patient with them, I don’t need to beat them up over it. We just need to do a bit of reflection and see where we can improve.”