After a heartbreaking Challenge Cup defeat to Wigan Warriors, Rohan Smith addressed his side’s performance in what he said was “a terrific contest.”
“I thought it was a terrific contest, an open game in great conditions.
“Both teams attacked it and it could have gone either way and very nearly did.
“That was a good game. You know as a fan and as a supporter, if you follow rugby league you can be disappointed with the result but recognise a good game of footy between two good teams competing for the first step of a big prize.
“I am proud of the effort of some of our players.”
He was naturally asked about Leeds’ seeming inability to play for a full 80 and as he responded he expressed confusion over the six again rule.
“Everyone wants to make a thing about the first, I don’t think we played poorly in the second half.
“We played a good team and we had some near misses and they executed a few games well.
“There was no set restarts in the second half so maybe the game was open enough there, I’m not quite sure.”
Asked about the ruck speed, Smith branded the set restart rule as “inconsistent.”
“I think the last time I asked there was no set restarts so it is really difficult to understand how there was just none.
“The rule was brought in to be able to not penalise but to make a rule. I think it is very inconsistent but overall the game was end to end, there were a lot of opportunities, it wasn’t like many of the other games this season which have been really slow, that was a good game.”
