Leeds Rhinos hosted Wakefield Trinity in a festive friendly at Headingley Stadium today.
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.
It underlined the potential in Mark Applegarth’s project at Belle Vue as he takes the reigns for the 2023 season following Willie Poching’s departure.
After the game, he was asked what Trinity can achieve this year and this was his fantastic response:
“We have our own goals that we have set. It’s professional sport, you play to win.
“You want to be in the play-offs, every coach would stupid not to tell you that but getting in them is a different thing.
“Get our squad fit I think we can compete with anyone. We want to be competing and anyone in that dressing room will be the same.
“You’ve got to back yourself, I want to be in those play-offs.”
