Leeds Rhinos suffer crucial blow

In Rivals Round over Easter there in the set of fixtures two former Grand Finals could be found. Of course, the stand out fixture would be the meeting between St Helens and Wigan Warriors but the other Grand Final rematch so to speak was the meeting between Castleford Tigers and Leeds Rhinos.

Though it may be Easter, there was no spring sunshine at the Jungle in fact it was turning more into a swamp such as the downpour as Castleford hosted their big city rivals Leeds Rhinos looking to end their winless starts to the 2024 season.

Based off the start to the game, Castleford would have deserved a lead but when given a penalty, Danny Richardson struck the upright with the penalty effort from 40 metres out.

Then a collector’s item as Liam Watts intercepted the ball and went 40 metres. From that the Tigers nearly scored through Liam Horne but they were denied by some scrambling Leeds defence.

The Leeds defence kept having to step up after an error strewn first half from the Rhinos. They did have a late effort at the end of the half but Castleford defended well. The halftime score was 0-0.

But 12 minutes into the second half, Leeds led 12-0 as they turned the game around. Both their tries came from Paul Momirovski. The first came from a Brodie Croft kick with Momirovski scrambling to ground. Then the former Sydney Roosters centre backed up James McDonnell to score after a Brodie Croft drop off.

Leeds led 20-0 after a Rhyse Martin penalty before Lachie Miller scored his first Leeds try on the back of a Matt Frawley kick.

Castleford did hit back through Josh Simm after a wicked bounce. Leeds Rhinos had the last say after a sensational break from Brodie Croft which led to a second Miller try.

Leeds Rhinos star set to miss major fixture

A good win for the Leeds Rhinos to get back on track though it may have been a costly one. Despite the fact that Sky Sports reported that Harry Newman had failed his Head Injury Assessment, the Rhinos confirmed he passed the assessment itself but went to hospital to deal with the subsequent cut.

However, second-rower James Bentley did fail his Head Injury Assessment which automatically rules him out of Leeds’ next game which is a big fixture as the Rhinos host Warrington Wolves.

After returning to winning ways and notching a fourth league win of the season, it is vital that Leeds back it up against the Wolves.

But they will have to do so without James Bentley who is an integral cog in their pack.