Leeds Rhinos have broken their nine-year hoodoo after beating St Helens at Headingley 24-16.
The home side remain top of the table and put the pressure on Warrington Wolves to get a result over Hull FC tomorrow night.
Maika Sivo added his 20th try of the Super League season, whilst Chris Hankinson and Harry Newman added Leeds’ other two tries.
Saints scored all their points in the first half, with Tristan Sailor, Alex Walmsley and Kyle Feldt crossing for the Red Vee.
With a huge sin-bin seven minutes from time, errors aplenty and some key selection calls, here are some of the biggest talking points to come from tonight’s encounter.
Wigan Warriors win Challenge Cup, John Kear remembered and Sam Walters’ monster ban – Click here to listen to the latest episode of the Serious About Rugby League Show.
Leeds Rhinos v St Helens talking points
Costly sin-bin:
In an incident that summed up Saints’ night, David Klemmer was shown a yellow card with seven minutes to go, and that allowed Connor to kick the two to give Leeds the lead.
Ill-discipline would be the theme of Saints’ evening, and with double figures in both the error and penalty count, Paul Rowley’s side were their own worst enemy far too often and with a total of three penalty goals from Connor, it allowed for a Rhinos victory.
Game-changing 10 minutes:
The first 10 minutes of the second half would prove to be pivotal. Leeds came out of the sheds firing, and after a Jake Connor 40/20 allowed Harry Newman to score, a second penalty goal of the game shortly after levelled the game at 16-16.
Saints were the better side in the opening 40, but a sloppy start to the second half allowed Leeds right back into the game, and from then they were in the ascendancy.
Saints’ spine changes:
Following the suspension to Jackson Hastings and illness to Owen Dagnall, Saints shuffle their squad and Jack Welsby returned to full-back, Tristan Sailor moved to the wing and the halves consisted of Jonny Lomax and George Whitby.
The halves pairing combined for Kyle Feldt’s first try, whilst Welsby looked far more comfortable and influential at full-back.
Whitby was handed the responsibility of controlling the game, and whilst he strutted his stuff in the first half, he couldn’t quite control game as well as his opposite number Jake Connor could.
Double injury concern:
Saints will be sweating on the fitness of Harry Robertson and Joe Shorrocks, who both went off injured.
Robertson missed the game against Castleford as a precaution, but it looks as though that needn’t matter with both the youngster and Shorrocks suffering concerns.
Rhinos miss key attacking chances:
Leeds crossed for their first try on 28 minutes, however you’d argue they should have had two if not three scores before that point. A knock-on by Ryan Hall before scoring and a Maika Sivo try ruled out for obstruction are the two key chances, but the amount of field position they had in the opening half-hour suggested they should have been ahead by more.
Compare that to Saints, who had a lot less territory in their opponents’ 20, they were able to score three tries, showing that being clinical outweighs dominance.
Lengthy Captain’s Challenge delays:
Something that is becoming the norm in Super League is the lengthy stoppages due to video replays such as Captain’s Challenges and video referee replays.
In the first half alone, there was over six minutes of stoppages, and that really sunk the atmosphere out of the crowd. Ahead of the game, both sets of fans were up for the contest, but with no flow in the game, that atmosphere was quickly sapped out of Headingley.
It was a stark contrast to the second half, which had little to no stoppages. That allowed for an intense game that at times boiled over, but the atmosphere soon picked up with both sides going hammer and tong to try and claim the win.
John Kear tribute:
As with every game this weekend, the rugby league community came together to remember the late John Kear, who died travelling back from London after commentating on Saturday’s Challenge Cup Final.
A minute’s applause encapsulated Headingley, with every fan in the ground paying their respect to an icon of the sport.
Pre-match, Jon Wilkin gave an excellent tribute to the 71-year-old, and spoke on the night before Saturday’s Wembley Final, saying how they shared a beer and recalled some great rugby league memories.
Wilkin said:”He was universally loved, and that’s an incredible achievement. In life, you don’t ever want to be judged by the work that you did, but by the person that you were.
“For me, I’ve been working with John Kear in broadcasting for a number of years. He was somebody who made every room that he sat in better.”
