Matt Parcell is the real deal at hooker for Leeds
It’s only been six games, but you can already tell that Matt Parcell is going to be a brilliant signing for Leeds. The Rhinos’ resurgence continued on Friday with a good win against Wakefield and, to quote Rhinos coach Brian McDermott, Parcell was “outstanding” – laying on tries for fun all night. The pick was perhaps the flick pass which put Kallum Watkins over for his second – and when the tracks firm up, Parcell could get even better. That’s a very good sign for Leeds.
Leeds’ “poor start” has been blown out of proportion
There were headlines aplenty when Leeds got hammered by Castleford a fortnight ago about how poor the Rhinos were: but there’s a fair few teams who would love to have their record of four wins from six right now. In context, the Cas defeat was horrific – but the Tigers seem capable of doing that to anyone on current form. Yes, Leeds’ first four performances weren’t great – but they still managed to win games. The last two have been much better – and the Rhinos look in decent shape thus far.
Wakefield have to cut the errors to stand a chance of the eight
At times, it seems Wakefield’s biggest opposition is themselves. On Friday they were victims of their own poor performance, with errors aplenty and a performance which Chris Chester described as being “out-muscled” and “out-enthused”. Wakefield definitely have the talent to make the top eight again in 2017 – but they have to stop punishing themselves to stand a chance of avoiding the Qualifiers.
Widnes are getting better.. but not quickly enough
It was another chastening evening for Widnes on Friday night. All looked promising when they led thanks to an Aaron Heremaia try at Hull – but 30 unanswered points put paid to any hopes of the Vikings’ first victory of 2017. They are improving, but with a quarter of the regular season almost gone already, points are quickly becoming the priority for Denis Betts’ men as opposed to improved performances.
Albert Kelly is settling in at Hull FC just fine
There were plenty of eyebrows raised when Albert Kelly crossed the great Hull divide to join FC at the start of this season: but how he is proving those nay-sayers wrong. Kelly was again brilliant during Friday’s win against Widnes – and his partnership with Marc Sneyd is improving as the weeks go on. Hull are four wins from five and going along nicely – Kelly’s form is key to that strong start.