Leeds close in on home semi-final tie
Leeds coach Brian Mcdermott was beaming with pride after his side came from behind to beat St Helens 16-14 and strengthen their grip on second place in the Betfred Super League.
For the third time in 2017, just two points separated the sides, with the Rhinos holding on for a precious home victory that keeps them on course for a home semi-final.
Mcdermott’s men trailed 8-2 at half-time after St Helens full-back Jonny Lomax scored the only try of the first half. But Leeds turned the game around thanks to a gutsy second-half performance, with winger Ryan Hall scoring a try on his 300th appearance and prop Adam Cuthbertson clinching victory late on as Leeds said farewell to their iconic South Stand in style.
“I’ve never not been proud of our players but I’m just extremely proud to be their coach tonight,” Mcdermott said. “I don’t know where we got that second half from.
“I thought Saints were great. They were beating us off the deck consistently in the first half and we never got a grip of their quick play-the-balls. We made far too many errors in the first half and I thought it would have taken too much juice out of us.
“We didn’t change anything tactically for the second half, we just had to go out and roll our sleeves up and they did that right up to the final whistle.
“You might argue we should have executed better, and I agree, but I thought it was a great game of rugby league between two teams who were committed as anything. They were great defensively, we found it really hard to break them down.”
Leeds’ victory, coupled with Hull’s home defeat by Huddersfield, means they are three points clear in second place with four rounds of the Super 8s to go.
Wigan warmed up for next Saturday’s Challenge Cup Final with an eight-try demolition of Salford to keep them in the hunt for a top-four Super League place.
The Warriors produced one of their best halves of rugby for some time as they led 26-0 at the break with Joe Burgess scoring twice before running out 42-6 winners.
Wigan’s opponents in the final, Hull FC, fell to a heavy 46-18 home defeat to Huddersfield Giants, Lee Gaskell claiming a hat-trick.