It is fast becoming a weekly occurrence for Leeds to be involved in thrillers such as this. Yet while the previous two performances ended in disappointment, here they were on the right side of the result.
The regular season may only just be passing the halfway point but there is a distinct feeling the competition is splitting into two leagues of six. Had Leeds endured another reverse here – their previous two games were one-point defeats – the Super League champions would have risked being cut adrift from the burgeoning top four of St Helens, Wigan, Warrington and Castleford.
Leeds were not at their best but still managed to win. Behind at half-time against a spirited and improving Hull KR, the Rhinos went ahead with 25 minutes remaining and then withstood enormous pressure in defence.
“We’re in too many close ones at the minute,” said Brian McDermott, the Leeds coach. “Whether that’s us not being good enough or the intensity of the games and the competition, I don’t know. But as a win and an exercise, I’d give that a good thumbs-up and a tick.”
The outcome easily could have been different. But while there are again countless positives for Hull KR to take from their performance, they remain four points adrift of the top eight.
The home side deservedly led by six at the interval after tries from Robbie Mulhern and Mose Masoe, as well as four goals from the boot of Ryan Shaw. But their scoring had all but ended for the afternoon.
Hull KR had two further tries disallowed by the referee, Scott Mikalauskas, and after Ryan Hall’s try levelled the scores Kallum Watkins’ 55th-minute penalty – he had earlier converted tries from Joel Moon and Jamie Jones-Buchanan – put the visitors ahead. Leeds then had the defensive wherewithal to repel the Robins.
Rather than express his frustration at the tries to Chris Atkin and Mulhern that were disallowed the Hull KR coach, Tim Sheens chose to point the finger at his own side.
“We made too many mistakes and not enough completed sets,” he said. “For courage I give them 200% but we shot ourselves in the foot that many times, I don’t think we had any toes left.”
There were further chances late on for the home side – and had Junior Vaivai or Justin Carney taken advantage, Leeds could easily have succumbed to another narrow defeat.
With this victory, however, the Rhinos climbed to fifth in the Super League table – a significant step forward following a fortnight of frustration.
“There is lots of improvement in us,” said McDermott, “and we come away with a tight win instead of a close loss.”
