Leeds Rhinos vs St Helens review

 Leeds Rhinos are still searching for their first home win of the season as they fell to a 26-0 defeat to a St Helens team that moved back to the top of the table with the win. The red V repeated their feat of August 2020 by submitting the Leeds faithful to the purgatory of keeping their team scoreless.

St Helens took the lead in just the fifth minute of the game. The away team had a number of repeat sets on the line and would’ve crossed seconds before had it not been for Ash Handley just batting down a ball destined for the winger to score. Off the resulting scrum the returning Konrad Hurrell was able to get on the outside of Jack Broadbent who will no doubt be disappointed by his defensive efforts. 

At this point many feared that the scoreline could get ugly and these fears weren’t quelled when Tommy Makinson scored St Helen’s second try. This try was a carbon copy of the try we have seen St Helens score time and time again over the last few seasons. The play starting on the left swept from left to right through the hands of Lomax, Dodds and finally Welsby who fired a miss pass across the face of two players into the hands of the England winger who scored in the corner unopposed. 

Luckily for the Rhinos Mark Percival was unable to convert the two opening trys and thanks mainly to  some solid defence from a much improved forward pack the home team were still  in with a chance at just 8-0 down at the break.  

As the second half developed through the first 15 minutes the Rhinos started to gain more territory and build a platform to attack the St Helens line. Unfortunately, perhaps hampered by the absence of Aidan Sezer, Leeds were unable to fashion any opportunities to threaten their opponents line. Liam Sutcliffe, frustrated by this and trying to force the issue, attempted an audacious pass round his back without looking  that could only find Tommy Makinson who streaked away to score hsi second in the 56th minute.

After resisting the most potent attack in super league for so long the Rhinos would go on to concede two more tries by the time the game finished. Firstly in the 59th minute Lewis Dodd scored off the back of another sweeping move. This time starting just inside their own half the ball travelled from right to left to the centre Percival who flicked the ball out of the back of his hand to the young winger Bennison who subsequently  passed inside to Lewis Dodd backing up the break. The final blow came 12 minutes later in the 71st minute and it was a moment of brilliance from Jonny Lomax. The halfback chipped over the top of the Leeds defence and chased his own kick to score in front of the disgruntled East stand.

After the game the Leeds Rhinos admin were chastised for describing a 26-0 loss as an improved performance however I believe that they were right in their description. After capitulating against Castleford in the challenge cup the Leeds defence showed up massively in the middle 40 minutes of the game. Going 8-0 down so early on had most fans thinking they were about to see a repeat of the previous week however, the Rhinos forward pack rose to the challenge of facing an opposition that on paper severely out matched them and they even began to win the battle at certain points. As usual Kruise Leeming was a shining light and his 40/20 kick from dummy half was key in helping Leeds to gain territory in the second half. It was also heartening to see that several times in the middle quarters of the game the St Helens attack had repeat sets on the Leeds line without scoring. 

Although there were improvements in defence, watching Leeds try to attack the St Helens line was a dire experience. Not helped by the injury to Sezer, Austin and stand-in halfback Liam Sutcliffe looked devoid of ideas throughout the game. A bugbear of mine throughout this season has been the halfbacks decision making on the last tackle and this once again was an issue. As the dominant halfback Blake Austin should have been taking charge of this but he failed on numerous occasions to find an attacking kick on the last tackle when Leeds were in good field position.

In the second half of the match Leeds had in my opinion enough opportunities to at least score one try and give the fans something to cheer about, however they were unable to even carve out half a chance of scoring. It was almost painful at times to watch how Leeds attacked in the 20 metre zone compared to St Helens. 

The main difference between the two teams is the speed everything is performed at. When St Helens attack, passes fizz across the line and there are always numerous players in motion that all look like they could receive the ball at any one moment. On the other hand, the attack of Leeds looks pedestrian and very easy for the opposition to defend. Rarely were the dummy runners in action  and simply passing the ball down the line will never work against defences as elite as St Helens. St Helens attack as a cohesive unit whereas Leeds at the moment look like a team of individuals who have been thrown together to play a game.

Looking ahead to the coming weeks, there is the small mercy of a week off that will hopefully be enough time to bring some players back from injury and give JJB and his coaching team a week to work on all the areas of concern. In the long term it is vital that Gary Hetherington appoints the right coach quickly who can bring the players together and create a team out of a set of talented individuals.