Inexperienced Leeds Rhinos side swept aside by Bradford Bulls

Bradford Bulls and Leeds Rhinos battled it out at Odsal today in a West Yorkshire derby that the Bulls dominated against Rohan Smith’s young side.

The two sides were competing for the Keith Howards Foundation Trophy and Rohan Smith sent a young squad to Odsal to face the Bulls.

Mikolaj Oledzki skippered the side whilst former Bradford man James Donaldson was another with experience but aside from that duo, there was a lot of minutes handed to young talent.

Jack Sinfield partnered Corey Johnson in the halves whilst the McCormack brothers, Ned and Fergus, also got key minutes under their belt.

As for the home side, Eammon O’Carroll sent out a strong team in what was the club’s last game before their season officially begins with the Odsal crowd getting to see what was close to their side’s strongest 13.

Loanee Aidan McGowan from Huddersfield started at full-back with former Super League players littered through the squad in Jorge Taufua, Lee Gaskell, Michael Lawrence, and new signing young Eliot Peposhi from St Helens.

Bradford Bulls sweep young Leeds Rhinos side

With Leeds Rhinos sending out such a youthful side it was certainly a game for learning and experience with the home side putting it on the young Rhinos from the start.

That was seen with Bradford Bulls opening the scoring after just five minutes as Australian recruit Mitch Souter claimed a high kick to bag the opener and put the Rhinos on the backfoot.

Leeds then had to defend multiple sets and then punished the home side straight away with centre Luis Roberts quickest to scoop the bouncing ball and score in the corner to make it 6-4 after a quarter of the game.

Prop forward Doro crashed over before loanee McGowan replicated Roberts’ effort, reacting first to a loose ball and grounding to help extend the lead.

Going in 18-4 up at half time the Bulls made a quick start in the second half just as they had in the half, this time scoring after four minutes with Jayden Myers scoring the the corner to make it 22-4.

The lead was increased shortly after half-time with Souter bagging his second before Rohan Smith started to get some of the young bench players involved around the hour mark.

Derrell Olpherts pulled one back making it 28-8 after some smart play from Fergus McCormack before the Bulls added a final score through debutant Eliot Peposhi to make it 34-8.

Plenty of experience gained by Rohan Smith’s young Leeds Rhinos squad whilst it was perfect preparation for Bradford Bulls ahead of their 1895 Cup clash next week.

The Rhinos lose out in the Keith Howard Foundation Trophy clash but plenty of game time for the next generation of Leeds players against Championship opposition
FULL TIME Bradford 34 – 8 Rhinos pic.twitter.com/WUTXv0EmpX

— Leeds Rhinos (@leedsrhinos) January 28, 2024