Round 23
Leeds Rhinos 52 d. Salford City Reds 14

2007 engage English Super League Index [Table] [Draw] [Player Stats] [Club Headlines]

Location: United Kingdom > National > First Grade Competition: engage English Super League

Pressure mounts on McRae as Rhinos run rampant
Sat August 11, 2007
Source: www.superleague.co.uk

The pressure on Shaun McRae continued to mount after a 52-14 defeat by Leeds Rhinos shoved his Salford City Reds side ever closer to relegation.

The Australian coach was appointed as successor to the sacked Karl Harrison in June and tasked with preserving the Reds' top-flight status.

But McRae's mission is looking increasingly difficult, with his men three points adrift of safety at the bottom of the table and with just four games to dig themselves out of trouble.

Salford were 28-4 behind at the break after being totally destroyed by a Leeds side who barely needed to get out of third gear to earn their points.

Tries from Ryan Hall, Jamie Thackray, Kylie Leuluai, Keith Senior and Danny McGuire were the least the Rhinos deserved for their stunning superiority.

Salford, to their credit, refused to surrender after the break but further scores from Scott Donald, Thackray, McGuire and Ali Lauitiiti left McRae staring at the dismal prospect of life in National League One.

Leeds were missing free-scoring scrum-half Rob Burrow and full-back Brent Webb but in truth their absence was barely noticed.

Rookie wing Hall confirmed as much when he broke Salford's pitiful resistance after just four minutes.

The 19-year-old academy product collected Gareth Ellis' neat reverse pass and showed delightful footwork and impressive pace to scamper over the line.

Prop Thackray touched down six minutes later for the Rhinos' second after latching on to a teasing grubber kick from influential hooker Matt Diskin.

Leeds' third try, in the 12th minute, was indicative of their control. It came courtesy of Leuluai, whose uncle Philip Leuluai lined up in Salford's second row, and saw him take a clever pass from Diskin to barge over from close range for his first try in Rhinos colours.

Leeds began to move through the gears, keeping the ball at every opportunity and pinning back Salford deep inside their own half.

It came as no surprise to anyone when Diskin orchestrated a fourth Leeds score for Senior in the 22nd minute.

The Rhinos worked the ball effortlessly out to the left flank and Diskin's neat offload found the onrushing Senior bustling forward at pace to cross the whitewash.

With skipper Kevin Sinfield adding three goals from four attempts to put Leeds 22-0 ahead, Salford knew the game was effectively up.

But, to their credit, they never gave up and Stuart Littler claimed an individual try shortly before the half-hour mark after twice hacking forward and following up to ground the ball.

John Wilshere missed the conversion but McGuire pounced for Leeds' fifth try shortly before the interval hooter and Sinfield added his fourth goal.

In the 42nd minute Clinton Toopi's magical underarm offload outfoxed Salford's overworked defence and sent Donald racing clear.

Luke Dorn claimed Salford's second try in the left corner six minutes later, but Wilshere again missed the kick.

And with Thackray and McGuire both racing under the posts to complete their respective braces, the visitors were dead and buried.

However, Coley crossed the line and Wilshere added the extras to give Salford some respectability but Lauitiiti's close-range try took Leeds to 50 points.

With Sinfield having already converted seven tries, Jordan Tansey had the final say by adding the extras to Lauitiiti's late score.

Report source: www.superleague.co.uk

Article: McRae hails rampant Rhinos

Article: Salford slip up again


Headingley Insight: Leeds v Salford
Fri August 10, 2007
Source: www.leedsrugby.com

In this weeks edition of Headingley Carnegie Insight, Leeds coach Tony Smith looks ahead to the Rhinos game against Salford City Reds at Headingley Carnegie this Friday, kick off 8pm.

HOW TOUGH A CHALLENGE WILL SALFORD BE?
Friday's game will definitely be another competitive, high quality Super League game and I have no doubt that Salford will arrive here desperate for any points that are on offer. That desperation will ensure that we are in for a tough night but it is a challenge that we are looking forward to.

Salford will be glad to have their skipper Malcolm Alker fit for the final run in after he has missed large sections of this season through injury. He is a big part of their game plan and a player who we will be wary of. Likewise, they have a dangerous half back pairing and a more than capable pack of forwards.

We have seen so often this season, that this is the most evenly matched Super League ever and every team, be it at the top or the bottom, is capable of beating any other. That was demonstrated the other week when Salford beat Bradford and we are fully aware of the dangers that confront us.

HOW HAVE YOU REFLECTED ON LAST WEEKS PERFORMANCE?
We were pleased with our performance last week and we will take a lot of confidence from the Quins game. To put 50 points on any side in the top six, as Quins were at the start of the game, is a rarity these days. We played some very good rugby, particularly in the second half. We were obviously trailing at half time and it was pleasing to see the response from the players. However, I did not feel that we were that far off at half time and we just needed to tweak our play a bit and the players did that after the break.

The result was also pleasing given some recent adversity and criticism that the team has gone through, it is always nice to have a strong response as the players and coaching staff never lost faith.

WHAT CHANGES WILL YOU MAKE GIVEN BRENT WEBB'S SUSPENSION?
Michael Ratu will become the latest member of our Academy system to make his debut in Super League. Michael has earned his call up with great form for the U21s this season and is another player to come through the ranks. It shows our support for our junior development system and he is yet another young star for the Rhinos in the making.

We were extremely disappointed with the severity of the suspension handed down to Brent Webb by the RFL Disciplinary Committee, especially given his previous unblemished record. I know Brent is particularly disappointed to be missing 80% of our remaining games this season because of the ban.

As well as Brent, we will be without Rob Burrow and Ryan Bailey this week who both picked up injuries last week.

RATU SET FOR SUPER LEAGUE DEBUT
Teenager Michael Ratu is set to make his Super League debut for the Rhinos after being named in Tony Smith's 18 man squad to face Salford this Friday at Headingley Carnegie, kick off 8pm.

19-year-old Ratu has been with the Academy since 2004 and was part of the side who won the Senior Academy Grand Final at Hull last season. Prior to joining Leeds he played for Higgleshaw Cagies and has represented Lancashire and England at U15 and U16 level.

Nick Scruton is set for only his second appearance of the season after Ryan Bailey was ruled out with an abdominal strain picked up in last week's win at Harlequins.

The squad in full is:

2 Scott Donald
3 Clinton Toopi
4 Keith Senior
5 Lee Smith
6 Danny McGuire
8 Kylie Leuluai
9 Matt Diskin
10 Jamie Peacock
11 Jamie Jones-Buchanan
12 Gareth Ellis
13 Kevin Sinfield (c)
14 Ali Lauitiiti
15 Jamie Thackray
17 Nick Scruton
18 Ian Kirke
23 Jordan Tansey
25 Ryan Hall
27 Michael Ratu

Next Fixture: Rhinos v Salford on Friday 10th August 2007, KO 8:00pm.

Next Up: Leeds Carnegie v Gloucester on Sunday 16th September 2007, KO 3:00pm.

Buy your tickets on 08700 60 60 50 or at www.leedsrugby.com

News sent by: www.leedsrugby.com

Wed August 8, 2007
• Burrow cleared of serious injury
  

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