Match Analysis - Leeds Rhinos V Salford City Reds
By leedsrhinos.biz
August 13 2007
We've decided to change our style of match report this week and turned it into more of a match analysis, and if you like it, we'll keep it going till the end of the season. This week the Rhinos took on the Salford City Reds at Headingley to keep the pressure on the Saints at the top, and guess what, we did. Still second, but joint top. Click more to read our new match analisis.
Please note this is a MATCH ANALYSIS and not a Match Report Leeds: (28) 52 Salford: (4) 14
Tries: Hall, Thackray 2, Leuluai, Senior, McGuire 2, Donald, Lauitiiti
Goals: Sinfield 7, Tansey 1
Tries: Littler, Dorn, Littler
Goal: Wilshere
Tony Smith was pleased with Leeds' efforts, yet it seems that the lads could have quite easily of put eighty points past the almost certainly relegated Salford City. Newly appointed Reds coach is still keeping positive, but it does look that they will be playing in NL1 next season.
Tries from Hall, Thackray, Leuluai, Senior, McGuire, Donald and Lauitiiti secured the two points needed for us to stay joint top. It also helped our campaign for the top spot when Catalans nilled the Saints in France for the first time since the Rhinos nilled them at Headingley in 2004 - 70 - 0.
Kevin Sinfield only missed one conversion as Tansey converted one of the tries for Leeds.
Salford were 28-4 behind at the break after being totally destroyed by a Leeds side who barely needed to get out of second gear to earn their points even though we were without Brent Webb, with three games left in his four match ban, and scrum half Rob Burrow - key playmaker.
The lads finished the Salford off with two superb tries in the last twenty minutes of the game.
On sixty-seven, JJB went through a gap on the half way line and ran to the Reds scrambling defence on their ten before a sensational inside pass to McGuire for a walk in try over the white wash. Sinfield added the extras and the score was now 46-8.
Salford did get some consolation for their efforts in the second half as Coley went through from the scrum. With the conversion, the score was now 46-14.
But in the last minute of the game Ali went over to score right under the sticks after a pass from Diskin. Tansey converted once again, we put a half century past a team. Infact, we scored a century in one week.
We weren't on fire tonight, but boy did those two wins in the last week really improve our points difference, as we're now ahead of Bradford on that front. It now looks like we have secured that second place now if we beat Bradford. Ideally, to get the top spot position the fans are craving we need Saints to either loose next week to Salford (I can't even see that even if Saints field some young players whilst resting his stars for the CC final at Wembley) next week or to Wigan; the last game for Saints and Wigan in the regular season. So lets hope for Wigan to do use at least one favour.
Here is the engage Super League table;
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1 | St Helens | 23 | 16 | 0 | 7 | 671 | 356 | 315 | 32 |
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2 | Leeds | 23 | 16 | 0 | 7 | 645 | 432 | 213 | 32 |
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3 | Bradford | 23 | 16 | 0 | 7 | 690 | 490 | 200 | 30 |
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4 | Hull | 23 | 11 | 2 | 10 | 488 | 471 | 17 | 24 |
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5 | Wakefield | 23 | 11 | 1 | 11 | 526 | 564 | -38 | 23 |
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6 | Warrington | 23 | 11 | 0 | 12 | 599 | 622 | -23 | 22 |
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7 | Huddersfield | 23 | 10 | 1 | 12 | 530 | 452 | 78 | 21 |
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8 | Wigan | 23 | 12 | 0 | 11 | 505 | 459 | 46 | 20 |
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9 | Harlequins RL | 23 | 9 | 2 | 12 | 433 | 542 | -109 | 20 |
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10 | Catalans | 23 | 8 | 1 | 14 | 476 | 589 | -113 | 17 |
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11 | Hull KR | 23 | 8 | 0 | 15 | 382 | 619 | -237 | 16 |
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12 | Salford | 23 | 6 | 1 | 16 | 397 | 746 | -349 | 13 |
Tony Smith:
"The performance was mixed but there were some very impressive passages I thought," he said.
"But overall I'm very happy to get a victory like that and two victories I suppose in the space of two weeks.
"We've had a little bit of adversity; we lost a few key players and lost them early in the match as well. We lost Nick Scruton there with a broken hand tonight.
"I know he wouldn't be deemed a key player but we only had one out-and-out front rower on the bench so that hurt us.
"And we lost him fairly early in his return match, so that left us with one sub short again.
"We were a bit patchy at times - we were scintillating at times, absolutely fantastic rugby league tries scored but some scrappiness in amongst it as well."
Leeds: Donald, Toopi, Senior, Smith, McGuire, Leuluai, Diskin, Peacock, Jones-Buchanan, Ellis, Sinfield, Lauitiiti, Thackray, Scruton, Kirke, Tansey, Hall, Ratu.
Salford: Wilshere, Hodgson, Barnett, Moule, Littler, Dorn, Robinson, Coley, Alker, Korkidas, Wainwright, Highton, Finnigan, Turner, Nash, Haggerty, Saxton, Leuluai.
Referee: Ben Thaler
Crowd: 15k