Rhinos on the charge
EYEBROWS were raised when Brian McDermott declared that Leeds were capable of winning the Grand Final but his players are doing everything to prove his theory.
McDermott voiced his opinion in early March, just a week after the Rhinos had been thrashed 66-10 at Castleford – their heaviest Super League defeat. Since that humiliation, Leeds have been virtually unstoppable and yesterday’s first-half dismantling of Widnes ensured a sixth win from seven games, taking them joint top of the table.
Having seen his side win 52-24 at Hull on Good Friday, McDermott, below, can reflect on a successful Easter. The head coach, who led Leeds to the treble in 2015, said: “You don’t normally speak in postmatch press conferences about a desire to get to a Grand Final, but I don’t mind saying it.
“It’s making it public because unashamedly that is what we want to do. We want to do the treble – that’s our goal. The first half today was great and our performance at Hull on Friday was right up there. We are gaining some confidence, especially with the ball.”
Leeds had effectively won this game by halftime after racking up a 30-6 lead. England centre Kallum Watkins continued his recent impressive form by superbly fielding Danny McGuire’s high kick and touching down to open the scoring. Hooker Matt Parcell added a second before Joel Moon collected Adam Cuthbertson’s pass for a third.
Widnes, who remain bottom of the table and struggling with a growing list of injuries, handed out debuts to teenagers Owen Farnworth and Liam Walsh.
They also lost Danny Craven (fractured finger), Lloyd White (hamstring) and Tom Armstrong (knee) during yesterday’s game, while Leeds prop Anthony Mullally suffered broken ribs.
Widnes stand-off Tom Gilmore pulled a try back before half-time but Moon scored his second and Tom Briscoe also touched down to make it 30-6 at the break and underline the Rhinos’ superiority. Leeds were sluggish in the second period as Widnes hit back with three more tries from Gilmore, Chris Houston and Corey Thompson. However Watkins and Parcell scored late on to join Moon in completing a brace of tries and leave Vikings coach Denis Betts utterly dejected by the defeat. Betts said: “We got ambushed in the first half and life is not nice when you’re not winning games – my wife isn’t happy and the kids don’t talk to me. “You can talk about an injury crisis and young lads getting a chance, but we need to start winning.”