LEEDS RHINOS secured a 32-6 win over local rivals Castleford Tigers in a hard-fought encounter at Headingley Stadium this afternoon.
The Rhinos were the best team from the off, leading 14-0 at half-time before turning the screw in the second forty minutes with three tries.
It’s fair to say, after a run of poor results, that head coach Rohan Smith was pleased to get the win: “It was obviously very pleasing and we attacked the game from the start.
“We played with confidence from the kick-off and didn’t give the other team a glimpse. We were quite relentless with our work and a few players have come back into the group like Paul Momirovski who made a difference on the right.
“It was a good team performance, from start to finish we were a team. We may have left a couple of points out there but we were strong in what was a difficult week.”
Smith also bemoaned Castleford’s solitary try after what looked like an obstruction in the build-up to Elie El-Zakhem’s effort.
“Their only try came from a shift on the opposite side which came from an obstruction. Brodie (Croft) had one in the first-half and he was told to go down.
“They must not have looked at that and I thought we deserved a zero today.”
Andy Ackers was a late withdrawal due to concussion as Smith explained what happened and when he was notified.
“We knew Andy Ackers wasn’t available at 7.34pm last night but his replacement, Corey Johnson, did well.
“The plan was to start Ackers this week but I thought Jarrod O’Connor stepped in and was phenomenal with his intent and line speed.
“Ackers had delayed onset concussion. We hadn’t heard of it until that phone call last night which came from a knock last week.
“I think he’s doing quite well today and hopefully he will be able to resume the return to play process.”
So what will Smith do in his two weeks off?
“We need to get some work done, we are clearly not where we need to be. We’ve got work planned during the week and then we will have a few days off to freshen up to get a good week leading into the Hull game.”
Smith also heaped praise on 20-point marksman Rhyse Martin as well as halfback Matt Frawley.
“Rhyse’s goalkicking has been terrific but, offensively, he hit the line hard and got some good chances today.
“It was probably Matt Frawley’s best game. I think he has had some good solid performances but today he got the fruits of playing short and using the lead runner today and he found his own try.
“He has come up with really good plays, him and Brodie have stepped forward this week and taken ownership of the attack.”
The Leeds boss refused to be drawn into the argument that they were only playing Castleford, a side that has won just three games and drawn one.
“That was a strong performance today regardless of who you are playing against. There is noise that is being generated outside of this building so we have to deflect that and fight through it.”
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