The season is already resembling something of a rollercoaster for the eight-times Super League champions, Leeds,and, if one display could be identified as a microcosm of the first few months under David Furner, this was surely it.
Rhinos supporters could have been forgiven for thinking that a corner had been turned at several stages here. Leading 22-0 at half-time and 28-0 shortly after the resumption, they looked to be heading for a comfortable afternoon for Leeds in their pursuit to climb the table.
But old habits die hard for a side still finding their feet under Furner. By full-time the celebrations were not tinged not so much with satisfaction as with relief that they had hung on following 24 unanswered points from a Hull Kingston Rovers side who had been comprehensively outplayed for the first 50 minutes. The sides are now level on eight points in the bottom three.
“I said to them after to dump that second half, forget it,” Furner said later. “We knew they’d mount a fightback after half-time and we put ourselves in a tough position, but that’s two wins in three now.”
Leeds delivered arguably their most polished 40-minute display under Furner before the Robins’ fightback. Within two minutes they were ahead as Ash Handley crossed unchallenged in the corner, the winger later doubling his and Leeds’ tally midway through the half.
Trent Merrin and Tui Lolohea all came within a whisker of extending a lead the Rhinos fully merited, and as half-time approached, it looked as though the gap would be only 12 points. But in two minutes before the interval Tom Briscoe touched down in the corner to make it 16-0 before, from the resulting kick-off, Jack Walker finished a magnificent long-range move.
“That was a disastrous period around half-time,” said Hull KR’s coach, Tim Sheens. While there were encouraging signs in the manner of their second-half revival, three successive defeats over Easter suggest they face another season of struggle.
Twitter: follow us at @guardian_sport
Facebook: like our football and sport pages
Instagram: our favourite photos, films and stories
Leeds looked well-placed for a comfortable win when Matt Parcell made it 28-0 six minutes after the break – but the traits which have plagued them for large parts of 2019 then came back to haunt them.
There were further missed chances in attack and, when Hull KR’s Ben Crooks crossed twice in 15 minutes, the visitors sensed an opportunity. Kane Linnett’s try with six minutes left was then backed up by Weller Hauraki’s effort with 90 seconds to go and suddenly it was 28-24.
The tension around Headingley was palpable butespecially given how Leeds had already thrown away winning positions from similar dominance this season. This time, however, they did just enough to hang on – and who knows how decisive this may prove to be moving forward.
