Troubles mount up for Smith at Wolves
THE tables were turned on Leeds Rhinos once again as they slumped to a shock defeat at Super League’s bottom club Widnes Vikings.
It was the third time Leeds have lost to one of Super League’s bottom-four this season.
Rhinos led 14-4 in the first half, were two points clear at the break and seemed to have snatched a victory when Adam Cuthbertson’s try and a Liam Sutcliffe goal edged them 20-18 ahead with 11 minutes left.
But 20-year-old winger Ryan Ince, playing on loan at League One Hunslet earlier in the season, grabbed his second try of the game and Corey Thompson completed a brace to condemn Leeds to their third successive loss at Halton Stadium.
Leeds were without captain Danny McGuire due to a foot injury and poor last tackle plays were a feature of their below-par performance.
Coach Brian McDermott admitted his men weren’t smart enough against fired-up opposition.
He said: “People talk about effort and desire. I don’t think we lacked any of that, but I don’t think we had some on-field intelligence at times. I thought we lacked that.
“Widnes fought for absolutely everything. We found it hard to break them down and they made us look a bit six out of 10 with the ball at times. I have got to question should we have been so easily put off our game?”
Ash Handley’s early try gave Leeds a solid start and though that was cancelled out by a touchdown from Rhys Hanbury, the visitors seemed to be taking control when Kallum Watkins and Stevie Ward crossed and Sutcliffe added a conversion.
But Rangi Chase was involved as Ince squeezed over at the corner and then Thompson touched down to leave the game evenlypoised at the break. Joel Moon had a try ruled out and Widnes went in front through an Aaron Heremaia try and the first of Chris Bridge’s two goals. WARRINGTON coach Tony Smith insists he will not quit despite watching his side suffer a crushing home defeat to Salford.
The 2016 Super League runners-up, who were winners of the League Leaders’ Shield just six months ago, are in serious danger of missing out of the top eight after winning just one of their last five matches. They have conceded 78 points in their last two games, and are in the bottom four.
A note on the club’s Facebook account claimed Smith had left his post in the immediate aftermath of Monday’s defeat but it appears the site was hacked and a spokesperson confirmed the club were investigating the incident.
Smith, who is in his ninth season in charge of the Wolves, said at the post-match press conference: “As unpleasant as it is, I don’t give in easily.
“I’m just disappointed with the way we’re playing, it’s not about how I feel.
“We as a group are not playing well enough over the weekend.”
Warrington made the brighter start, making all the early running, but they were unable to breach the tight-knit Salford defence and, after soaking up the pressure, Salford struck with two tries in three minutes to demonstrate their potency.
Centre Jake Bibby produced a clinical finish after taking second rower Ben Murdoch-Masila’s smart offload and winger Niall Evalds finished off a break by Carney for the first of his three tries.
“I thought we started with some promise but we didn’t convert that into points and our heads dropped,” Smith added.
“We had different half-backs again, we haven’t got that continuity.
“We were also playing against a team playing with confidence and executing well.”