YEP rugby league writer Peter Smith reflects on a miserable 80 minutes for Leeds Rhinos after they were crushed 34-8 at home by Warrington Wolves.
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00:00 Really disappointing night here at AMT Headingley where Leeds have been trounced 34 points to 8 by
00:08 Warrington Wolves. The scoreline blew out towards the end, Warrington scored three converted tries
00:13 so it probably doesn't quite reflect the game but the visitors were by far the better team.
00:19 Leeds got off to a good start went 4-0 ahead but never really got a grip on the game.
00:24 Uncharacteristically they looked a little bit fragile near their own goal line.
00:30 They didn't throw enough at Warrington, didn't play enough of the game in Warrington's half in the first half.
00:36 They went in 16 points to 4 down, looked like they might pull it back early in the second half,
00:42 pulled a try back and then had one controversially disallowed for a double movement and that was when
00:48 the on-field decision was given as a try but the video referee decided there was overwhelming
00:54 evidence to overrule it. That looked like a harsh call but I'm not sure Leeds would have won the game
01:00 even if that had been given. Warrington finished the strongest side and were the better team as
01:05 I've said overall adding to Leeds' woes. Tom Horroyd failed a head injury assessment in the first half.
01:11 He's gone to hospital and Ash Hanley, probably Leeds' most informed player this season, nearly
01:17 scored a worldly in the first half just denied by a fantastic tackle by Matty Ashton just
01:23 short of the line. He suffered a suspected cracked rib also in the first half. He's also gone to
01:29 hospital. He could be out for a while. That is a concern for Leeds though they will have David
01:35 Fuster-Tewa back in contention for the next game which isn't for a couple of weeks until they play
01:40 Huddersfield here on Friday night in two weeks time. Leeds are going to need a massive improvement
01:45 though to win that game or to push up the table really. This is an opportunity to go
01:51 joint top and to send out a little bit of a message to the teams around them at the top
01:56 of the table but Warrington were the ones who came away smiling comfortably the better team
02:03 and it shows how much work Leeds have got to do if they're going to secure a top six finish and
02:08 certainly if they're going to try and push for the top four which should be the target this year.