Rohan Smith on “the unit of guys” supporting each other after suspensions at Leeds Rhinos

Thursday night was a great night for Leeds Rhinos.

Their 42-12 win over the high flying Wigan Warriors was the biggest indicator yet that Rohan Smith’s Rhinos revolution is sparking something at Headingley and was one of the best performances from any side in 2022.

It also gave their play-off hopes a major boost and the atmosphere was electric from the first minute.

So a great night for the collective, there were some lovely moments for individuals too. Brad Dwyer scored against his hometown club the week his Leeds departure was confirmed whilst young Muizz Mustapha returned from a lengthy ban to cross for a deserved try right at the end of the game.

On this, Leeds coach Rohan Smith opened up on the things Mustapha and other suspended stars at Leeds have had to deal with.

Going into the game at Wigan Leeds were without Matt Prior, Zane Tetevano and Tom Holroyd through bans with Tetevano and Holroyd serving lengthy bans. Bodene Thompson and Harry Newman have only just returned from suspensions too so recently Leeds have had a large group of players on the sidelines but not injured.

Smith spoke about the difficulties this poses players and how they have supported each other: “I was really happy for the game to finish as it did. It rewarded the effort of the whole team.

“Muizz has been suspended for a bunch of time there and we’ve had a few in the same category so those guys have been doing things on none training days and there’s been a unit of guys supporting each other through some disappointing and hard times for them.

“Missing out on playing is a huge thing for players. To miss a week is a lot, to miss two or five – it means a lot to be playing so for him to help us finish the game strongly is great.”