For Leeds, if there is to be a trophy at the end of Danny McGuire’s farewell tour in a Rhinos shirt, these are the moments which could get them a long way towards sending their captain off into the sunset with something to savour.
Leeds have fluctuated between the sublime and precariously out-of-sorts this season, yet following this narrow victory they are already guaranteed a top-two spot heading into the Super 8s. This was a performance certainly ranking in the latter of those categories.
“It was dogged,” said the Leeds coach, Brian McDermott. “It wasn’t pretty but it doesn’t have to be sometimes.”
Leeds did not take the lead until Jack Walker’s try just before the hour. But in a game littered with errors it proved enough for the Rhinos to avoid losing further ground on the runaway leaders, Castleford.
Hull have not won at Headingley since 2007 and, while they will rue this as an undoubted missed opportunity to end that run, a third defeat in a row is also unwelcome preparation for the next meeting between these sides, a semi-final in the Challenge Cup in a fortnight.
“We’ll have to strip everything back moving forward,” Radford said afterwards. Hull led 7-0 at the break thanks to a Scott Taylor try but errors and poor attacking play saw them unable to add to that after the interval. For Leeds the story was almost the complete opposite. In the first half they were markedly out of sorts following injuries to Stevie Ward and Keith Galloway, the latter of which is season-ending. “It’s devastating,” McDermott said of the prop’s injury, his second snapped Achilles in 12 months.
Those injuries stunted Leeds’ flow in the opening 40 minutes, though Hull’s defensive efforts were superb. To their credit, they did not dip too much after half-time either, but tries from Ryan Hall and Walker proved just about enough although not before a hair-raising few seconds until a Mahe Fonua try for Hull was chalked off by the referee in the final moments.Leeds’ victory kept them eight points behind Castleford, who further strengthened their position at the top of Super League with a 38-14 victory against fellow top-four side Salford. Five wins from Castleford’s final eight games would now secure a first-ever League Leader’s Shield after their latest victory.
Wakefield moved into fourth with just one game of the regular season remaining, as Hull’s loss opened the door for them to take the final play-off place courtesy of a 36-8 win at Widnes, who are already consigned to the Qualifiers.
Leigh also know they will be playing in the Qualifiers this summer - but that is not the case for Huddersfield, whose 26-4 win over the Centurions confirmed their place in the top eight: while also confirming Warrington, last season’s league leaders, to the bottom four despite their win over Wigan on Thursday.
Leeds Golding; Briscoe, Ward, Keinhorst, Hall; Moon, McGuire; Galloway, Parcell, Singleton, Jones-Buchanan, Ablett, Cuthbertson. Interchange Garbutt, Mullally, Lilley, Walker.
Tries Hall, Walker.
Hull Shaul; Fonua, Griffin, Tuimavave, Talanoa; Connor, Sneyd; Taylor, Houghton, Watts, Thompson, Minichiello, Manu. Interchange Washbrook, Bowden, Downs, Matongo.
Try Taylor. Drop goal Sneyd.
Referee R Hicks. Attendance: 16,938.
