WIGAN WARRIORS 24 LEEDS RHINOS 4
DAVID KUZIO, The Brick Community Stadium, Friday

HARRY SMITH’S name was omitted from the recent Man Of Steel shortlist, but a few more performances like this one will see him cemented as one of the favourites.

The scrum-half tormented Leeds all night with his kicking game, with three of Wigan’s tries coming on the back of a kick from the England international.

Leeds started the game well and twice put the Warriors under pressure on their own line, their best chance came when Jake Connor opted to turn the ball back inside on the last, but Tom Holroyd was held metres shy of the line.

Wigan managed to turn defence into the opening score of the game. A penalty moved them into Leeds’ half and a kick to the corner from Smith was knocked back by Adam Keighran and Jack Farrimond was on hand to pick up the loose ball and touch down. Keighran added the extras for a 6-0 lead.

Leeds were not playing badly, and they had a spell camped on Wigan’s line, but this ended up in a bizarre score for the Warriors. A long ball from Connor was intercepted by Keighran, he raced away but did not have the legs.

Keighran tried to offload to Zach Eckersley and it was knocked back then forward by Ash Handley which then saw Keighran scoop up the loose ball and score. The centre converted his own try for a 12-0 advantage.

Again, Leeds had a number of sets on Wigan’s line, and this time they managed to cross the try line, but Newman knocked on as he tried to ground the ball following a kick from Connor.

Wigan did a great job of soaking up all the pressure Leeds could throw at them and then hurt them with points of their own. The Warriors forced a knock on and went left with Jai Field firing a cutout ball for Noah Hodkinson to go over in the corner. Keighran failed to convert but the Warriors led 16-0.

Smith continued to terrorise Leeds at the start of the second-half as his long kick downfield was dropped by Ryan Hall. The Warriors had a set restart and a penalty on Leeds’ line with Keighran opting to extend their lead with two more points.

Leeds were trying their hardest to get back into this game with Lachlan Miller getting his hands on the ball more. He made a couple of half breaks, but Wigan’s defence handled everything the Rhinos threw at them.

As it was, Wigan ended this game as a contest with the best try of the night. Smith put over cute chip, which was collected by Hodkinson, he then turned it back inside for Jake Wardle to cross over. Keighran converted and Wigan were out of sight at 24-0.

Leeds again thought they had got on the scoresheet in the 55th minute when Eckersley and Field misjudged a high kick from, but Handley failed to ground the ball and the chance went begging.

The visitors had plenty of possession in Wigan’s half and were constantly denied with Taylor Kerr and Junior Nsemba putting in big hits.

They finally got on the score sheet as Connor, Miller and Handley combined to send Maika Sivo over from close range. Connor was off target as they fell to a 24-4 defeat.

GAMESTAR: Harry Smith was outstanding all evening and had a hand in a number of Wigan’s tries.

GAMEBREAKER: Jake Wardle’s try 12 minutes into the second-half ended any hope of Leeds winning this game.

HIGHLIGHT REEL: Harry Smith’s kick over for Noah Hodkinson to collect and offload to Jake Wardle was a joy to watch.

ALBERT GOLDTHORPE POINTS
3 pts – Harry Smith (Wigan)
2 pts – Adam Keighran (Wigan)
1 pt – Oliver Partington (Wigan)

MATCHFACTS

WARRIORS
1 Jai Field
2 Zach Eckersley
3 Adam Keighran
4 Jake Wardle
28 Noah Hodkinson
19 Jack Farrimond
7 Harry Smith
8 Ethan Havard
9 Brad O’Neill
10 Luke Thompson
11 Junior Nsemba
14 Sam Walters
17 Oliver Partington
Subs (all used)
13 Kaide Ellis
15 Patrick Mago
20 Sam Eseh
25 Taylor Kerr
18th man (not used)
23 Kian McDermott
Also in 21-man squad
22 Tom Forber
27 Lukas Mason
36 George Marsden

Tries: Farrimond (7), Keighran (23), Hodkinson (29), Wardle (52)
Goals: Keighran 4/5

RHINOS
1 Lachlan Miller
2 Maika Sivo
3 Harry Newman
4 Ash Handley
5 Ryan Hall
6 Brodie Croft
7 Jake Connor
10 Tom Holroyd
23 Danny Levi
13 Keenan Palasia
14 Chris Hankinson
12 James McDonnell
11 Kallum Watkins
Subs (all used)
8 Mikolaj Oledzki
9 Jarrod O’Connor
15 Cooper Jenkins
17 Cameron Smith
18th man (not used)
26 Tom Nicholson-Watton
Also in 21-man squad
20 Presley Cassell
22 Riley Lumb
28 Fergie McCormack

Tries: Sivo (65)
Goals: Connor 0/1

SCORING SEQUENCE: 6-0, 12-0. 16-0; 18-0, 24-0, 24-4

Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Warriors: Harry Smith; Rhinos: Lachlan Miller

Penalty count: 5-4
Half-time: 16-0
Referee: Liam Moore
Attendance: 14,627