Leeds Rhinos 20-38 Wakefield Trinity records staggering attendance despite being friendly

It may be a day after Christmas, many may be slightly hung over, others will likely be going to see their family today and ready to eat turkey sandwiches but there was still some rugby on.

As they always do, Leeds Rhinos and Wakefield Trinity met at Headingley for a festive friendly as both sides prepare for the new season which starts on 16th February when Leeds travel to Warrington Wolves for round one, the weekend Wakefield host Catalans Dragons at Belle Vue.

However, despite it only being a friendly and despite the fact it is Boxing Day, the game still attracted a very impressive attendance that would not be a miss in Super League and even stands as superior to many Super League sides’ average attendance.

In total, there were 9,143 fans at Headingley today and credit to Wakefield fans because a fair chunk of this near 10,000 crowd were Wakefield fans.

It was a good close game for a friendly too. Trinity took an 8-0 lead thanks to tries from Jay Pitts and Reece Lyne.

Leeds themselves scored back-to-back tries with James McDonnell grounding a chip over the top from Richie Myler before a lovely move saw Liam Tindall score.

But before the break, an Eddie Battye score saw Wakefield take the lead again.

However, their lead didn’t last long as Morgan Gannon scored from a Kruise Leeming 40/20 before Leeming himself scored after a break from Leon Ruan.

But a flurry of Wakefield tries from Renouf Atoni, Lee Kershaw (x2) Jordy Crowther and Lewis Murphy saw them storm to victory.