LEEDS RHINOS went down 30-24 to the Huddersfield Giants at Headingley tonight.
The Rhinos were leading 24-12 at one stage in the second-half but Rohan Smith’s side collapsed as the Giants registered 18 unanswered points to take home the two points.
It’s fair to say Smith was disappointed, speaking on Sky Sports: “It’s heartbreaking in the end because we put in a lot of good work and for large parts we were the better team.
“Losing a centre and winger at the same time made it really difficult. We had players playing out of position against a team stringing their plays together for a longer period of time.
“We probably didn’t make enough of our domination in the first-half points wise but we were in a good position.”
Smith explained the issues with David Fusitu’a and Harry Newman, with the pair leaving the field at the same time on 50 minutes.
“Fus has got a knee injury, it’s a different knee injury to the other leg. I feel sorry for him and I’m really heartbroken for him. He was in really good shape.
“Newman got hit in the back early on and he battled through back spams for a good period but couldn’t keep going.”
Smith also reflected upon a decision by Lachlan Miller to send out a short drop-out with just six minutes to go, handing Jake Connor the chance to send Huddersfield into a 26-24 lead.
“You don’t do that at 24-24. If you’re behind you have a go at it but at that stage you kick it long.
“We defended for so long prior to that I can understand why it might have crossed the mind but it wasn’t the right play.”
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