Leeds Rhinos 30, Wigan Warriors 4

YEP rugby league scribe Peter Smith reflects on Leeds Rhinos' big win over Wigan Warriors.

Transcript

00:00Well I've done a few of these post-match videos in this exact spot this season and most of

00:05them have been pretty gloomy but totally different today after Leeds Rhinos 30 points to 4 win

00:10over champions Wigan Warriors which puts a little bit of a spoke into Wigan's chances

00:16of finishing top of the table and certainly keeps Leeds just about alive in the hunt for

00:22top 6 spot. You'd think the defeat at Salford last week has probably meant it's not going

00:27to happen but if they play like this every week for the rest of the season then perhaps

00:33defensively it was like watching a different team to the one that we've seen turn out most

00:38weeks this season. Leeds got off the line and bashed Wigan and played with a high tempo

00:43with the ball. They did some really good things, it wasn't perfect, there were still too many

00:47errors but they scored some excellent tries. The first by Harry Newman is worth watching

00:52if you can see a replay of that, really a world class touchdown and they never really

00:58looked in any danger. They defended well, Wigan put them under pressure at times but

01:03Leeds' defence was excellent on their own line and it was a really good all-round performance

01:07with some standouts. I thought Gerard O'Connor was outstanding at loose forward, James Bentley

01:13playing in the middle, superb off the bench and perhaps a little sign for the future and

01:20what we can expect from him. Lachie Miller continues to do some strange things but when

01:26he's on he's a terrific player to watch. I thought James MacDonald had another big game

01:31against his former club but across the board Leeds played really well and it's good to

01:34see young Ben Little get a few minutes game time at the end, I think that's a debut he'll

01:40never forget. It's a big thing for Leeds now to do it again next week against White and

01:44Wolves at Magic weekend but they've given themselves a lifeline and probably more

01:49importantly they've shown what this squad is capable of when they get their act together

01:54and they're making big advances under Brad Arthur and today was the first time they've

01:59beaten a side above them in the table since March so a real step forward.