LEEDS RHINOS coach Lois Forsell was pleased with the response her side showed as they opened their Super League campaign with a 20-20 draw against St Helens on Saturday.
A week on from their 44-14 Challenge Cup semi-final defeat at the hands of Wigan Warriors, the Rhinos bounced back at the Totally Wicked Stadium, and would have won but for Vicky Whitfield’s late try and Luci McColm’s conversion.
“After the Wigan game we said we needed to focus on energy and effort and that is exactly what we did,” said Forsell, who was left disappointed by Saints’ late score, but knows it can be used to learn lessons from.
“We tightened up a lot of errors in training and the girls really bought into that.
“I thought we were great in the first half. They really wanted to compete, stuck to doing their jobs and did the basics really well, so I was really happy.
“Wigan have shown in their last two games that you have got to get out of the blocks quickly and if you want to win a game, your first 20 minutes need to be really good.
“We did that got on the scoreboard first and that let us build a bit of momentum in the first half.
“Vicky’s try at the end was hard to take, but we know we can fix up little errors like that.
“We defended our try-line really well at other points in the game, so it was a bit frustrating, especially after we’d put in so much effort, but we can learn from that and be better for it.”
Forsell was left with two more injury concerns. Ruby Walker, who left the field early against Wigan with an ankle injury, started against Saints, rolled the ankle again, and will be assessed this week, while Grace Short was taken to hospital after suffering a whiplash-type injury during the second half.
