Smith hails Leeds debutant Lumb
12-18
Leeds head coach Rohan Smith hailed the performance of Riley Lumb after the teenager marked his Rhinos debut with two important tries in a battling win at Hull.
Lumb, 19, replaced the injured David Fusitu’a on the right wing and made his presence felt 12 minutes later with a virtuoso solo try after Morgan Smith had put Hull ahead.
Having collected the ball on the flank, Lumb weaved past several Hull defenders to touch down, then doubled his tally five minutes before half-time after getting to Brodie Croft’s teasing grubber first.
While Cam Smith’s try sealed a return to winning ways for Leeds, despite a nervy final quarter after Lewis Martin touched down for Hull, all the attention afterwards was on the performance of Lumb.
“He was telling me at the back end of last year he should have been playing,” Smith said. “He doesn’t lack confidence but he also knew he had some work to do on his game and his body and he’s done that.
“He’s a very talented young bloke. He’s got confidence but it’s a humble confidence. He’s tough as nails, he’s not daunted by any sort of situation.”
Following home losses to Warrington and Huddersfield, against whom they twice squandered 12-point advantages, Leeds found some comfort on their travels at the MKM Stadium.
While they remain eighth in Super League, just two points adrift of third-placed Wigan, there were chants apparently directed towards Smith in the away end.
“There was a portion of discontent,” Smith said. “I haven’t got the best of hearing, I think too many concerts in my younger days has blasted my hearing a bit, but I got the gist of it post-game.”
Smith’s uncle Tony left Hull earlier this month after a poor start to the season and their situation remains bleak as they remain 11th in the table following a seventh successive loss.
They huffed and puffed in the final 20 minutes after moving to within a converted try and, having shipped 50 or more points in four of their past five outings, interim coach Simon Grix took some comfort from giving Leeds a run for their money.
“We discussed being better for longer and we definitely were,” Grix said. “Everyone stepped up a bit. We’re still not where we want to be because we want the two points. But effort-wise, we weren’t beaten there, which was great. We didn’t get the points but there was plenty to take out of that one.”