The hallowed blend of youth and experience is a much sought after combination in sport and Leeds Rhinos, as they have for the last 10 years or so in Super League, appear to have got the formula just right again in 2015.
As is tradition with Leeds, their holy trinity of Kevin Sinfield, Rob Burrow and Danny McGuire have led the way this season but they have been backed up with the next generation of talent too, including the wing Ash Handley, who starred here with a hat-trick as the Rhinos made light work of their nearest title challengers in front of a bumper crowd at Headingley. Throw in the news that Leeds have tied the full-back Zak Hardaker to a long-term deal as well and their futurelooks as bright as their present.
That mix of youth and experience is one factor that, at the moment, is setting Leeds apart from the rest of Super League. They have had their obligatory mid-season blip yet are still three points clear at the top of the table after this latest win which featured rugby ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous – the latter of which came mostly from the defending champions as opposed to Leeds.
Ominously for the rest of the league, Leeds are still not at the top of their game. Perennially they are a team who have learned to peak at the right time of the season and the fact that they are in top spot at a time of the year that is usually a lull for them is a firm warning that right now Leeds appear overwhelming favourites for Grand Final glory come October.
“I felt we were clinical when we had the chances to score early on but I’m keen to mention that we weren’t brilliant in that first half despite scoring 22 points,” said the Leeds coach, Brian McDermott. “I don’t want to dumb it down too much but it was a decent contest and we simply nailed our chances early.”
An error-strewn first 40 minutes from the Saints was more than enough to put the game out of their reach; trailing 22-0 at the break they never really posed a serious comeback at any point, which left their coach, Keiron Cunningham, apologising to the fans who made the trip along the M62 to watch their team get completely outclassed. Injuries and fatigue caught up with St Helens on the night – but that situation will be eased somewhat in the next week with the impending arrival of the Australian full-back Adam Quinlan.
“By the time we got some sort of foothold in the game we were 22 points down,” said Cunningham. “It’s not good enough for this club; they’re not playing for an average club – we like to think of ourselves as world-class and it’s not good enough. A lot of senior players let their teammates down today.”
The opening half was appalling from St Helens but they had arguably played themselves out of the contest by the end of the opening quarter. By that point they were 16-0 down after tries from Kallum Watkins, Kylie Leuluai and Ryan Hall – all of which came from errors by the Saints. Only handling errors prevented Leeds from extending the lead further but they would get a fourth try just before half-time when Handley crossed for his first.
Quite what Cunningham could have said after those first 40 minutes is anyone’s guess but it had some effect. Within two minutes of the restart Matty Fleming touched down a Travis Burns kick.
That try, and the half-time break, had temporarily prompted a shift in momentum and, when Hardaker was sent to the sin-bin for a dangerous tackle on Travis Burns, Leeds’ first-half work was threatening to come undone. However, they shrugged off the numerical disadvantage to reassert control of the game with a try from Carl Ablett and a second for Handley and all but seal the result with well over 20 minutes remaining.
St Helens at least produced some sort of improvement in the second half but tries from Jordan Turner and Kyle Amor were nothing more than scant consolation after they left themselves with too much do. That point was emphatically proved as the game entered its final 10 minutes, as first Handley finished another sweeping move to complete his hat-trick, then Hall added his second.
Leeds Hardaker; Handley, Watkins, Moon, Hall; Sinfield, McGuire; Leuluai, Aiton, Peacock, Keinhorst, Ward, Ablett.
Interchange Burrow, Delaney, Cuthbertson, Garbutt.
Tries Watkins, Leuluai, Hall 2, Handley 3, Ablett Goals Sinfield 7 Sin Bin Hardaker (50)
St Helens Percival; Dawson, Fleming, Turner, Swift; Burns, Walsh; Amor, Roby, Masoe, Wilkin, Greenwood, Jones. Interchange Walmsley, Flanagan, McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Savelio. Tries Jones, Turner, Amor Goals Percival 3 Referee R Silverwood
