Leeds Rhinos earned their first win of the 2026 campaign, after defeating Wakefield Trinity in the annual Boxing Day clash.
First-half tries from Alfie Edgell, George Brown and Riley Lumb was enough to seal the win, whilst Isaiah Vagana and Jayden Myers crossed for the visitors.
Assistant boss Jamie Langley took questions from the media after the game, and he spoke on how pleased he was with his side’s performance.
“[It was a] Really good hit out,” he said. “I’m really pleased with the outcome. Obviously, we are going into these games and we never quite know how it’s going to transpire.
“A lot of young players, a lot of players getting their first sense of what ‘man’s rugby’ is about. We tried to give them that taste now because at some point we’re going to need those lads throughout the year. I thought they fronted up really well, it was pretty tough out there today for both teams.”
The ruck speed, and having a quicker play the ball is something the game is looking to change, with stricter rules being in affect ahead of 2026. Langley is excited for that change, with the Rhinos’ attacking style suiting the faster speed.
Langley said: “We knew after the Ashes that the rucks were going to be refereed a lot differently, and the conversations we’ve had with the officials as well has obviously led us to believe that.
“Marcus [Griffiths] did a great job of carrying that out for us today. We’ve got a lot of work that we need to do internally, in terms of tidying up the detail around the rucks. There was a lot of six agains, a lot of penalties there.”
Young half-back George Brown was named player of the match in the stadium, and impressed, scoring a try and showing glimpse of his talent throughout. The youngster is highly thought of at the club, and Langley even likened him to current international George Williams and Mikey Lewis for his ability.
“[It was his] first opportunity at half-back, and to actually run the team, call the shots and the boys got behind him and they did a good job.
On his playing chances, he said: “We’ll see how Crofty [Brodie Croft] and Jake [Connor] are, obviously, and then George won’t be far behind. We’ve got Chris Hankinson as well, he did a good job at six for us.
“It’s been noted Chris has been given the 14 jersey, he’s going to be our Mr Fix it this year. We trust George, he’s just come out of the academy, had a fantastic season. He’s a really confident young man. He backs himself… he’s very good physically.
“You think about the best halves in the country at the minute. You’ve got George Williams and Mikey Lewis. They’re probably the best because of they’re the best physically… George is very much in that vein, so that’s why we’re really excited to see how he progresses in the next few years.
New signings Danny Levi, Jeremiah Mata’utia and Ethan O’Neill made their first appearances in Rhinos colours, with the latter starting the game and featuring for around an hour. On the new faces and how have settled in to the club.
He revealed: “Brilliantly. Ethan has a really high rugby IQ, very athletic, so he can play either edge, and I’d even stetch to say he could probably cover centre as well.
“Jerry, we’ve seen it from Jerry today. He loves to get his hands on the ball. I think he touched the ball four times within the first set when he came on. He’s not shy of a carry or two… You forget how young he is because he’s such a big human. He’s still one of our transition players really, but we’re really excited with what he’s going to bring.
“Danny just brings a wealth of experience, been around a long time, really good operator. smart, knows the game inside out. He’s really dynamic. You saw today, a couple of quick rucks and he’s away, so we just need to get used to the way that he plays and we can play front-foot rugby when he’s on the field because he’s really quick and he doesn’t miss anything.
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