Wigan coach Shaun Wane says Leeds will prove a difficult opponent this weekend despite their poor start to the Super League season.
The Warriors have won their opening four matches while the Rhinos, last year's treble winners, only picked up their first victory of the campaign against Huddersfield on Sunday.
But Wane believes Wigan will have to improve on their early-season displays in Friday's Sky Live showdown at the DW Stadium to reverse last year's Grand Final loss to Brian McDermott's side.
Speaking to Sky Sports News HQ Wane said: 'It's a huge game for us. To be honest we have not paid much attention to the Grand Final loss. It could have gone our way in the game but Leeds were quite rightly the worthy winners.
"We've worked really hard - we are four in four this year - but we have not played that well if I'm honest and I know we need to improve because Leeds are a fantastic team. They have some real competitors and we need to improve on what we have done so far this year.
"It's always a real must-watch game for all the viewers so I understand our mentality needs to be absolutely nailed on this weekend to look at challenging Leeds."
When asked about Leeds' poor start to the season, Wane, acknowledging the difficulties of motivating a squad of players after such an amazing year, insisted they will be challenging again come the end of the season.
"I do understand. A couple of years ago we won the double and I know how hard it is to get the players back up. What Leeds did last year was unbelievable to win the treble and all credit goes to them," he added.
"They lost three key players at the back end and you know they've struggled to find their form. I have no doubt that they'll be challenging for the Challenge Cup and the Grand Final at the end.
"They are going through a tough spell at the moment but they have got too many good players in their team to fall back and I'm sure they'll find their winning ways very soon... but hopefully not this Friday."