Leeds Rhinos have beaten Wakefield Trinity 40-22 in a thrilling game at Headingley.
Rhinos saw Maika Sivo have a very eventful game, with the winger scoring a hat-trick whilst also going to the sin bin.
Brodie Croft scored his 12th and 13th try of the league season, whilst Kallum Watkins crossed for Leeds’ other try.
Wakefield crossed twice through Jayden Myers, with Oli Pratt and Tray Lolesio also getting over the whitewash, the latter for his first in Trinity colours.
The win sees Leeds stay top for at least another fortnight due to next week’s Challenge Cup semi-finals.
Trinity have incured back-to-back defeats for the first time since June last season, and whilst the result by no means means they are out of the title race, it is another missed opportunity for them to take points off another challenger.
Leeds Rhinos v Wakefield Trinity talking points
Rhinos on top:
A six-try performance in a game that was, on paper, set to be a lot closer saw Leeds take their fifth league win in a row – a feat Brad Arthur has accomplished twice before in his league career.
No player had a bad game, and with Arthur fielding the same 17 for the fifth straight game, it’s easy to see why Leeds have been so dominant, and why competition for places is so high.
Wakefield dropped the ball in the opening set of the game, giving Leeds early field position. That territory turned into points, with Connor kicking the first of three penalty goals on the night.
A half-time score of 20-12 saw the Rhinos go into the break comfortable, but they failed to let up in the second half, and showed resilience during the three times they were shown a yellow card.
Trinity’s lack of big game experience:
As they did against Wigan in the Challenge Cup and St Helens last week, Trinity’s rise has meant that they have found themselves in some big games to start the season, but in their three biggest so far, they have lost every one.
Wakefield boast the youngest squad in the league, and whilst that bodes incredibly well for their long-term development, you could argue it is coming back to haunt them a little bit in the short term.
Daryl Powell’s side will again see this game as a learning curve, but if they want glory this year these are the types of games they need to be winning. Powell said that if they wanted to truly be in the hunt they needed a win over at least one of St Helens or Leeds, and neither have come to fruition.
Cameron Scott:Â
Trinity’s night got off to the worst possible start, with a significant injury occuring in the opening minutes.
Cameron Scott came off second best in a challenge with Leeds’ Keenan Palasia, and after a 10-minute stoppage he was eventually strechered off the field wearing a neck brace, with the centre being immediately taken to hospital.
That forced an immediate reshuffle, with Will Tate coming off the bench to play on the wing and Oli Pratt moving to centre.
Rhinos’ triple sin-bin:
After scoring two tries in the opening 40, Fijian international Sivo was sent to the sin bin for a late hit on Trinity full-back Josh Rourke.
Rourke was attempting to get the ball away to winger Will Tate, but he slipped and Sivo caught him high and without the ball.
After video referee Tom Grant reviewed the decision, he was sent for 10 minutes, however the Leeds star could count himself lucky he didn’t see red.
Wakefield capitalised in his absence, scoring through Tray Lolesio on the final play of the first half.
The Rhinos then suffered a second yellow as Ash Handley was deemed to have professionally fouled Josh Rourke in the act of scoring.
That meant Leeds were down to 11 for a set, and they made it count, with Jayden Myers crossing in the left corner.
The home side were back for a full compliment after 58 minutes, but it wouldn’t stay that way with Jack Bird getting yellow carded for delaying a Wakefield 20m restart with five to go.
Is Leeds’ pack the best in Super League?
Rhinos boss Brad Arthur said in pre-season that all four of his front rowers would be “starting front rowers in any other team in Super League” – and it’s hard to disagree with him.
Leeds’ pack have dominated teams in recent weeks, and that has been paramount to their success and their climb to the top of the table.
Keenan Palasia was the stand-out in tonight’s game, but all Mikolaj Oledzki, Cooper Jenkins and Tom Holroyd all played their part to topple a Wakefield side who couldn’t handle the physicality.
