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Huddersfield Giants 14-13 Leeds Rhinos: Player ratings and major talking points

In an edge of your seat West Yorkshire derby, Huddersfield edged a scrappy but pulsating game against the Rhinos 14-13. Lee Gaskell’s drop goal in the final play of the game proving the difference between the two sides.

Major Talking Points:

1. Halfbacks the difference

I suppose they were literally the difference. Liam Sutcliffe missed three attempts at drop goals only nailing the one whilst Aidan Sezer kicked a drop goal as did half turned fullback Lee Gaskell to win the game for the Giants. The Huddersfield halves gave their side creativity Leeds simply didn’t have. However, Sutcliffe deserves credit for a really good showing. Despite not being a natural half he put in a magnificent performance. However, had Luke Gale played instead of him it could’ve been a different story.

2. Huddersfield substitutes superb

Another area that tipped the game Huddersfield’s way was the substitutes. Leeds had a strange looking team and a strange looking bench. Both Rhyse Martin and Luke Briscoe spent time at loose forward despite being more accustomed to positions elsewhere. Meanwhile Huddersfield had some outstanding forwards come off the bench and put the Rhinos on the back foot. Both Michael Lawrence and Matty English did bucket loads of work.

3. The one on one strip rule has to go

It’s a mess really. Robbie Hunter-Paul pointed it out in commentary. It stops the flow of the game and makes it look scrappy. It nearly worked in Leeds’ favour today but ended up killing them as confusion reigned over a couple of penalties given against the Rhinos when a one on one strip was completed after the tackle despite the fact the attacker was still moving. Leeds felt hard done by when a crucial penalty was given against Luke Briscoe as he felt he’d ripped the ball one on one. This confusion and messiness could be avoided if the rule was boycotted.

Player Ratings:

Huddersfield Giants

6 Lee Gaskell – 8
2 Jermaine McGillvary – 7
17 Chris McQueen – 7
4 Ricky Leutele – 8
5 Darnell McIntosh – 6
16 Jack Cogger – 6
7 Aidan Sezer – 8
22 James Gavet – 6
19 James Cunningham – 7
8 Luke Yates – 8
11 Kenny Edwards – 6
13 Josh Jones – 8
15 Joe Greenwood – 7

Substitutes

9 Adam O’Brien – 6
10 Michael Lawrence – 8
14 Matty English – 8
27 Sam Wood – N/A

Leeds Rhinos

27 Jack Broadbent – 7
2 Tom Briscoe – 6
4 Konrad Hurrell – 6
11 Alex Mellor – 7
5 Ash Handley – 7
15 Liam Sutcliffe – 8
9 Kruise Leeming – 7
8 Mikolaj Oledzki – 8
14 Brad Dwyer – 8
10 Matt Prior – 8
22 Sam Walters – 7
20 Bodene Thompson – 8
26 Jarrod O’Connor – 7

Substitutes

12 Rhyse Martin – 6
19 King Vuniyayawa – 5
24 Luke Briscoe – 6
25 James Donaldson – 6

1 Comment

1 Comment

  1. Tony Townend

    May 3, 2021 at 12:41 am

    I must have been watching a different game, it was poor, weather conditions didn’t help, but it never flowed, not much skill was evident, perhaps in part because the officials came up with one or two strange decisions at key moments, or maybe because it just wasn’t there. I doubt either side will need to pack their grand final suits any time soon

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