Furner: Hull KR ran harder than us

Leeds coach Dave Furner bemoaned his side’s first-half efforts in their defeat to Hull KR.

The Rhinos went down 45-26 to the Robins, their eighth defeat in 10 Super League games.

The result leaves them two points adrift at the bottom of Super League having played a game more than those around them, and Furner was critical of his side’s defence in a first-half performance that saw them concede 31 points.

“First-half, 31 points. That’s what went wrong.

“I think our first half contact there wasn’t good enough. The first three visits on our try line we couldn’t lock that ball up. I thought Hull KR at the start of the game were running harder than us. I addressed that at the second-half and I thought we did a really good job of getting ourselves back. When we went 31-22 I thought we were coming home.

“But then all of a sudden a couple of little kicks or someone missing their assignment there and it gave them an opportunity to play down our end.

“I spoke about playing Hull KR in their end, they’re a team that like to be behind the ball and with the ball. But that first half was not good enough.

“We’ll have a look at who is not doing their job, that’s all it is. As a coach I’ll have a look at that. There are times where we defended our line that well. But tonight, look at the first up contact when they were coming out of their end before we look at our try-line.

“It does happen. We needed to handle that. We needed to match their enthusiasm at the start. A couple of things didn’t go our way and all of a sudden they score a couple of tries.”

Tui Lolohea failed to impress on his return to the team. When asked about his performance, Furner said: “I don’t think, it’s hard to sort of say. When you’ve got those points scored against you I don’t think anyone is really going to be impressing. I’ll have a look at the game before I comment.”

Konrad Hurrell scored four tries for the Rhinos, and Furner added: “He’s been very consistent. Koni never stopped trying.”