Leeds Rhinos' Lachie Miller says team "much better equipped" now after disappointing 2024
The Rhinos full back - 30 - is looking ahead to a more positive 2025 Super League campaign
Leeds full-back Lachlan Miller has delivered a withering assessment of the Rhinos' second straight season without a Super League play-off berth and admitted he sometimes "let the team down" as he struggled to adapt after his move from Australia.
Big things had been expected at Headingley of the former Cronulla Sharks and Newcastle Knights star after joining Leeds on a three-year deal ahead of their 2024 campaign.
But the Australian's early inconsistency mirrored a desperate start by his side that led to the departure of head coach Rohan Smith and another failure to challenge for silverware.
But Miller's sixth-place ranking in the annual Man of Steel awards is testament to his improvement in the second half of the season under Smith's replacement Brad Arthur.
And the 30-year-old believes the lessons learned from recent disappointments will help make the imminent 2025 campaign a distinctly more positive experience.
Miller told the PA news agency: "I definitely have a lot of improvement to make this year in cutting out the errors and inconsistency. I was often very up and down and I need to reach that top level each week. I felt like I let the team down every now and then.
"It's the same for the whole team and since Brad came in he has given us some accountability and belief. The standards of training have picked up and with the fitness and strength that comes with that, the standard of our squad is far better than it was last year."
Leeds reacted quickly to last season's disappointment by bringing back former star Ryan Hall after a superb spell with Hull KR, and the 37-year-old will joined on the flanks by fellow new boy Maika Sivo with last year's top performer Ash Handley dropping inside to centre.
Another addition in the shape of former Huddersfield Giants full-back Jake Connor adds more experience to a squad that, for all its admirable promotion of young players like Alfie Edgell, Riley Lumb and Jack Sinfield under Smith, was occasionally left feeling a little lightweight.
Miller, who could miss the Rhinos' opening Super League tie against Wakefield next month after sitting out much of pre-season with a hamstring injury, is relishing the different dynamic the respective arrivals of the likes of Hall and Connor will give to the squad.
"They bring lots of experience and leadership and I think that will help us because last season being quite a young team could sometimes be a weakness," added Miller. "The squad has an extra season of experience now.
"We're aware we haven't reached the play-offs for the last two seasons, but I don't feel any pressure and I'm pretty sure no-one else does in this team. We're confident in the work we've been doing in this pre-season, and we know what we need to do to win games."