Leeds Rhinos Dominate Hull KR at Home

Marking the MND awareness match with an impressive 34-8 victory

This was a fabulous match-up for the MND awareness game, a special occasion in the annual Leeds Rhinos calendar. Hull KR continue to be a highly-rated team, fighting for a top of the table finish, and they always appear to provide a high-intensity physical challenge. But just as the Rhinos did in Las Vegas in March, they easily overcame this challenge on Friday night, leaving the Hull team beaten and exhausted. Everyone in the Leeds team played in a manner which the late, great Rob Burrow would be proud of. Jake Conor’s playmaking stood out as it so often does, whilst the likes of Mikolaj Oledzki (man of the match) relentlessly smashed into the opposition’s defensive line. 

The teams line up for the MND awareness fixture

The intent of both teams was evident from kick off and tempers were regularly on the verge of boiling over in the first 20 minutes. Only 8 minutes in, Connor received an unfriendly hand to the face on the floor. No card was handed out but seeing as this occurred in front of the posts, Connor comfortably took the first two points of the match. Only 4 minutes later however, Rhyse Martin levelled the scores following similar ruck shenanigans by Leeds.

After these opening exchanges, Leeds started to settle into a rhythm of ending deep in the KR half. And, while the opportunity of tapping the ball onto left-winger Maika Sivo went begging at 20 minutes, Connor visibly helped re-establish a Leeds lead within the next 10 minutes or so. He added another 2 points at 25 minutes, and then sent Chris Hankinson through for a try at 31 minutes with a clever grubber kick. Sivo then took the Leeds lead further out, placing down a gently lofted pass 3 minutes from the break. With both tries converted, and the atypically poor Rhyse Martin allowing for another 2 points with a 40th minute sin-binning, the home team looked strong going into the sheds at 18-2.

The second half could not have started much worse for Hull KR, with the restart bouncing over their heads in the in-goal area. With the field position which came from the ensuing goal-line drop out and the extra man Leeds had for 10 minutes, Sivo scored a second try. Noah Booth did score one try for Hull KR at 56 minutes but this served more as a pause, rather than an end to the Rhinos’ momentum. Just 2 minutes later, Conor picked up a loose Hull pass 20 to 30 meters out and ran in another try, and at 70 minutes Ash Handley didn’t even need Sivo on his left to score another. 

Leeds continue to threaten in the last 10 minutes

Victory for the home side appeared so certain that Jake Connor was actually brought off for a rest in the last 10 minutes. A Hull side which was left gasping for breath did not provide any threat at this point. The only thing which appeared to be in their control was stopping Leeds score any more points, and to be fair to the visiting team some desperate defending held up potential tries from Oledzki and Cameron Smith. 

The strong home performance and MND cause certainly warranted the huge 18,000-plus attendance, and Leeds can be incredibly pleased with having beaten the title-challenging Saint Helens, Warrington and Hull KR in their last 3 games. The only team which currently look like they could rattle the Rhinos are Wigan, who beat a fired-up Hull FC side away in their last game and have now climbed to third in the table.