Friendly round-up: Huddersfield edge out Leeds, Cas defeat Rovers and Salford down Wigan

With less than two weeks to go until the start of Super League, 7 Super League sides looked to prepare for the new campaign in pre-season friendlies.

Wakefield started the day of friendlies with a 30-10 win over Championship Dewsbury. Trinity scored five tries in a comprehensive afternoon. The scores came from Reece Lyne, Bill Tupou, Innes Senior, Jacob Miller and Kelepi Tanginoa. The debuting Mason Lino kicked 5 from 5 with the boot.

At 2 p.m. Huddersfield hosted Leeds. The Giants boasted a near-full strength side and controlled the first half despite an early flourish from the young Rhinos. A dominant start to the second half saw the Giants take a 22-4 lead as Louis Senior added to the first half tries from Aiden Sezer, Darnell McIntosh and Jack Cogger. However, the young Rhinos withstood the pressure on their line and began an impressive comeback as 19 year old Jack Broadbent put in Luke Briscoe having scored earlier himself. Then Liam Sutcliffe powered over from close range. The Rhinos very nearly snatched a draw but a sublime tackle from Aiden McGowan on the big King Vuniyayawa denied them. It was a game full of positives for both sides, however Leeds suffered another injury blow. Ash Handley was taken off with a medial injury. Scans tomorrow with reveal the severity.

Meanwhile, Castleford had a good run out in Adam Milner’s testimonial however, like Leeds, they suffered yet another injury. The Tigers went into the game missing 8 stars and Alex Foster will now join them having suffered a bicep injury.

It was a good win for the Tigers who were well in control at halftime. They took an 18-0 advantage into the second half after two tries from Jake Trueman and a debut score from Niall Evalds. Rovers were much better in the second half. In fact they won the second period 20-12 with tries from Jez Litten, Shaun Kenny-Dowall, Adam Quinlan and George Lawler.

The final game of the day went the way of Salford. The Red Devils won the battle of last year’s beaten finalist as the Challenge Cup runners-up beat last year’s Grand Finalists. The Warriors were without enigmatic duo Bevan French and Jackson Hastings and only crossed once in a 20-6 defeat. First half tries from Kallum Watkins and Ken Sio gave Salford a 12-6 lead as Tui Lolohea and Watkins ran the show. Then former Warriors pair Jack Wells and Morgan Escare created a try for Salford to open up a 10-point advantage before Krisnan Inu completed the scoring in the 76^th minute.