Huddersfield Giants 21 Leeds Rhinos 12

27 Aug 2023

A tightly contested game at the John Smith’s Stadium saw Leeds Rhinos lose out 21-12 to Huddersfield Giants in round 23 of the Betfred Super League.

Three early tries for the home side prompted a response from Leeds as Luke Hooley and Ash Handley brought the away side into the contest at half time. They weren’t able to take their chances in the second half though, as two penalty goals and a drop goal gave Ian Watson’s side the two league points.

Ahead of kick-off, Rohan Smith was forced into changes from the side that beat Warrington a week before. David Fusitu’a, Corey Johnson and James McDonnell all missed the trip due to injury, and Nene Macdonald was absent due to the birth of his child. In their places, Derrell Olpherts and Luis Roberts partnered up on the left edge having played in the Reserves last weekend, plus there was a welcomed return for Morgan Gannon on the bench. For the first time since 2021, Rhyse Martin moved into the halves for the injured Johnson on his 100th Leeds appearance, whilst changes to the forward pack meant that Sam Walters move into second row and Tom Holroyd start at prop. Leon Ruan was also drafted in on the bench for the first time since his try-scoring performance against Wakefield.

Despite the changes to their squad, the Rhinos made a quick start to the match as Harry Newman and Ash Handley combined to send Sam Walters through, but a cover tackle from the Giants defence prevented the forward from crossing the try line. A late hit on Newman in the build up drew a penalty but the home side couldn’t make their early pressure count as the Giants came away with the ball.

They were left to rue the opportunity as Sam Halsall scored the opening try inside ten minutes. Moments before, Walters produced a poor offload, unbeknown to him that the tackle count had been wiped by the referee, and the home side took their chance to counter. Jake Connor managed to scoop up Olly Russell’s poor pass from the turf and the full-back flung the ball wide for Halsall to go over in the corner.

Along with losing James Bentley to injury on the 15-minute mark, the first 20 minutes of the game got worse for the visitors as they conceded back-to-back tries to find themselves 16 points down.

Kevin Naiqama got his arm free from an attempted tackle to reach out and plant the ball down for Huddersfield’s second try, despite the Rhinos players and fans believing that the centre had been tackled, and former Rhino Tui Lolohea added his name to the scoresheet as he benefitted from a mix-up between Handley and Hooley to collect his own chip kick to score. Russell converted one of the two tries to make the score 16-0.

Esan Marsters missed a big chance for Huddersfield’s fourth as the Rhinos’ defence desperately stopped the centre in the corner, but late drama saw Rohan Smith’s side claw the game back to within four points.

An offside call against Connor got Leeds within range, and off the back of Luis Roberts coming up short, Sezer and Walte3rs combined for the big second rower to offload back for Luke Hooley to get his second try in as many weeks.

Marsters bombed another chance as the Cook Islands international knocked on what looked like a certain try, and as Leeds tried to play quickly, Sam Hewitt was sent to the sin bin by referee Marcus Griffiths for a professional foul. With the wind in their sails, a rampaging run from substitute Sam Lisone set up Handley for a straightforward finish and Martin’s extra goal closed the scoreline to 16-12 at the break.

An electrifying start to the second half saw Leeds miss two big chances. A break by Cameron Smith led to Lisone being given a license to roam, but he was brought down. Sezer looked to put Walters through on a short pass too, but he couldn’t keep hold of the ball.

A 40/20 kick from Connor turned the tables back in favour of the home side as they had their first proper attack of the new half, and an offside call against Leeds gave substitute Will Pryce the chance to slot a penalty goal to take the Giants’ lead back out to six points.

A cagey half continued as very few chances for either side; Tom Holroyd thought that he had crossed as the prop was set up by Newman, but the referee called knock on in the build-up. Heading into the last ten minutes, Leeds applied pressure on the Giants line from a drop out as Ruan and Hooley both went close, but as Lisone looked to put Smith over on a crash ball, the pass was judged to be forward by the referee as the side in claret and gold breathed a sigh of relief.

It was the Giants that sealed the result off the back of a wild offload from Walters. Pushing towards the posts, Connor stepped up to kick the decisive one pointer, despite protests from the Rhinos that it was wide. An obstruction call against Leeds saw Pryce add his second penalty goal of the game and put the game to bed; the Giants moving onto level points with the Rhinos in the league table with a 21-12 scoreline.

Giants

1. Jake Connor, 3. Esan Marsters, 5. Jake Bibby, 4. Kevin Naiqama, 24. Sam Halsall, 6. Tui Lolohea, 23. Olly Russell, 8. Chris Hill, 35. Adam Milner, 27. Jack Ashworth, 21. Leroy Cudjoe, 12. Chris McQueen, 13. Luke Yates

Subs: 32. Will Pryce, 18. Seb Ikahihifo, 10. Joe Greenwood, 29. Sam Hewitt

Tries: Halsall (10), Naiqama (16), Lolohea (20)

Goals: Russell 2/3, Pryce 2/2

Drop Goal: Connor 1/1

Sin Bin: Hewitt (36)

Rhinos

21. Luke Hooley, 16. Derrell Olpherts, 24. Luis Roberts, 3. Harry Newman, 5. Ash Handley, 12. Rhyse Martin, 7. Aidan Sezer, 8. Mikolaj Oledzki, 14. Jarrod O’Connor, 18. Tom Holroyd, 11. James Bentley, 22. Sam Walters, 13. Cameron Smith

Subs: 25. James Donaldson, 15. Sam Lisone, 20. Morgan Gannon, 31. Leon Ruan

Tries: Hooley (34), Handley (39)

Goals: Martin 2/2

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