YEP rugby league writer Peter Smith reflects on a 21-12 defeat at Huddersfield Giants which all but ends Leeds Rhinos' top-6 hopes.
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00:00 It's been a difficult day for the Rhinos here at John Smith Stadium, beaten 21 points to
00:04 12 by Huddersfield Giants. I think realistically that is it for Leeds' top six hopes this season.
00:12 Four points adrift with just four big games to go, one of those away at Catalan, another
00:16 at home to Wigan. It's hard to see how Leeds are going to make up that gap. The damage
00:22 today was done in the first quarter when Leeds went 16-0 down. They fought back very well
00:28 after that, showed some real spirit, some battling qualities, scored a couple of good
00:33 tries but just not quite good enough to get back on level terms. A few things went against
00:39 them, there were some controversial decisions. Both ways to be fair, Huddersfield had a couple
00:45 of tries disallowed that the decision there was maybe a bit questionable but certainly
00:51 Huddersfield's second try I thought shouldn't have been awarded and there was a big doubt
00:56 over their third. That said, you have to get on with the game. Leeds showed some real spirit
01:03 to battle back from that early deficit and they lost James Bentley early on as well which
01:08 reduced them to 16 men. That was unfortunate. Hopefully he's OK, he was stretched off after
01:14 a very long delay. So that was bound to have an effect on Leeds' performance with only
01:20 16 available players. They showed lots of effort, lots of spirit but couldn't quite
01:26 find another way through the Huddersfield defence. Huddersfield rode their luck at times.
01:33 Really it was just that opening quarter that cost Leeds the game. A very costly defeat
01:38 for Rhinos. Again, some positives. I thought Lewis Roberts went well in the centre. Darrell
01:44 Alford had a decent game on his return to the side. Another good contribution from Luke
01:50 Cooley out full back. Sam Lassane went very well off the bench. Some powerful charges
01:57 made a big difference when he came on. Another good effort from Cameron Smith as well. Overall,
02:03 Leeds not quite there. It was a frustrating day and it has been a frustrating season.
02:08 It's one that's going to end in disappointment for the Rhinos unfortunately.
02:11 [BLANK_AUDIO]