Leeds Rhinos captain Ash Handley has praised his side’s focus following their 12-10 victory over Wigan Warriors on Saturday.
The centre put in another solid display in a good team performance as the Rhinos claimed the win to celebrate their veteran winger Ryan Hall’s 500th game.
Handley said they’re still working on Brad Arthur’s game plans but all at the club are happy with the progress made.
On their victory over Wigan, he said: “It was a big battle out there between two good sides. It was pretty close all the way through.
“The weather probably played a bit of a part in that, raining all the way through, so you tend to play a bit more conservatively.
“It was a good contest, I really enjoyed it and we’re happy to get the win for Ryan (Hall).”
Handley holds Hall in high regard and highlights his unusual try assist of using his head.
He added: “I can’t imagine anyone’s had an assist by a header before.
“He’s unbelievable but it’s one of those games that you come up with a bit of a stroke of luck and (Jack) Sinfield was there to pounce on the ball for us and score.
“He’s an inspiration for all of us really.
“To still be doing what he’s doing at his age, I think he could play 600 games!”
Both Leeds Rhinos boss Arthur and Handley have mentioned their focuses for the season and completion rate is one of those.
The Rhinos completed at 91% in the first half, something which the captain noted.
He said: “It’s one of the things we focus on as a team, like possession, keeping percentages high, and trying to build some pressure on the other side.
“It’s a big focus of ours in every game that we go into.
“If you do that, you tend to have some good spells in games.”
However, Handley said their second-half performance wasn’t as good but admitted that it’s a big improvement on previous weeks.
He added: “That’s another big focus for us, concentration for a full eighty minutes.
“We had a few moments in the game but that happens, you can’t have a perfect performance.
“It’s the way that we respond to those moments and I think we did really well tonight.”
Next up for Leeds Rhinos is a trip to Warrington Wolves on Friday night and the winger knows they’ll have to produce another good performance to get the two points.
He finished: “I watched a bit of their game and they looked a good side.
“They were trying to do what we’re trying to do, build a bit of pressure so I think it’ll be an entertaining game.
“It’ll be one of those ‘who’s going to crack first’ so I think we’ll be in for a massive game next week and I’m looking forward to it.”
