Round 26
Wigan Warriors 16 l. Leeds Rhinos 52

2008 engage English Super League Index [Table] [Draw] [Player Stats] [Club Headlines]

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

Leeds crush disappointing Wigan
Sun August 24, 2008
Source: www.superleague.co.uk

Defending engage Super League champions Leeds Rhinos kept the pressure on leaders St Helens with a crushing win at the JJB Stadium that dealt a hammer blow to Wigan Warriors' hopes of a home tie in the play-offs.

The Rhinos produced a polished performance to avenge their recent defeat by the Warriors and gave their points difference a healthy boost as they drew level with Saints, who go to Huddersfield Giants on Sunday with work still to do if they are to finish top of the table.

Full-back Brent Webb scored two of their nine tries in a scintillating show to which the home side simply had no answer as they crashed to their heaviest home defeat of the season.

The champions were in determined mood from the start and, inspired by in-form second rower Ali Lauitiiti, ran in four converted tries to establish a 24-10 interval lead before adding five more after the break.

Wigan, who were without leading points-scorer Pat Richards, were boosted by the return of playmaker Trent Barrett and, making what could be his final appearance at the JJB Stadium, he was involved with the opening score, a contentious one that came virtue of a breakaway try from former Leeds winger Mark Calderwood.

Webb went up in the air with Barrett in pursuit of Danny McGuire's high kick and it took video referee Steve Ganson four minutes to deduce the ball came off the visiting player before loose forward Joel Tomkins re-gathered to send the winger 60 metres up field.

With front row forwards Stuart Fielden and Iafeta Paleaaesina tearing huge holes in the Leeds defence, Wigan were good value for their lead, but the visitors continued to play the brighter rugby and they were rewarded with two tries in a three-minute spell.

Webb took Matt Diskin's pass close to the line and spun out of George Carmont's attempted tackle to score his 15th try of the season and then substitute Luke Burgess seized on a moment's hesitation by Calderwood to touch down McGuire's grubber kick.

Kevin Sinfield added both conversions to make it 12-6 but Wigan hit back 28 minutes when Calderwood, never far from the action on his likely final home appearance, palmed back Barrett's kick for Cameron Phelps to touch down.

In a game where errors were proving costly, Leeds winger Lee Smith was next to pounce, seizing on a dropped ball by Carmont to race 50 metres unopposed to the line for the visitors' third try.

And Leeds' enterprise was rewarded just before the break when they ran a penalty from in front of the posts and prop Kylie Leuluai crashed over from short range, with Sinfield kicking his fourth goal.

Leeds were on a roll by then and they increased their lead with the very first play of the second half.

They were awarded a scrum in a perfect attacking position after Sinfield's kick-off bounced into touch and Webb underlined his status as the best attacking full-back in the game when he produced some dazzling footwork to slice through for his second try straight from the set piece.

The Rhinos have begun to re-discover their early-season sparkle in recent weeks and their next try amply illustrated their devastating tryscoring ability when superb offloads by Keith Senior and Jordan Tansey paved the way for Lauitiiti to touch down for a richly-deserved score.

Leeds were becoming simply unstoppable and Senior typified their superior power and pace when he romped over for their seventh try on 54 minutes and Sinfield's seventh conversion made it 42-10.

Substitute Eamon O'Carroll pulled a try back for the home side but the champions continued to dominate and Smith scythed through the Wigan defence for his second try.

Seventeen-year-old substitute Kallum Watkins then put the seal on a magnificent victory when he chased McGuire's kick and hacked the ball ahead to touch down for a memorable score.

Report Source: www.superleague.co.uk


Headingley Insight: Leeds v Wigan
Thu August 21, 2008
Source: www.leedsrugby.com

In this week's edition of Headingley Carnegie Insight, Leeds Coach Brian McClennan looks ahead to this Friday's trip to the JJB Stadium to take on Wigan.

HOW TOUGH WILL IT BE GOING TO WIGAN?
If we just go on our last few games against Wigan, we know we are in for a tough night, especially at JJB Stadium. In our last game there, they played exceptionally well in the first half and we were poor, we turned things around after the break but we were always chasing the game. We will be hoping to perform much better than last time come Friday night for the full eighty minutes.

HOW IMPORTANT IS IT FOR YOU TO BUILD ON THE LAST TWO VICTORIES?
We have now secured our top two finish, which was an aim for us at the start of the season. However, it is also very important for us to continue to build momentum going into the play offs. We are confident that we are making good progress and putting the foundations in place for the challenges that are ahead of us. Foundations is a word that we have been using a lot recently, the team know we need to do everything possible in training and in our remaining games to make sure that we are ready for the play offs. We need to up our performance level from last week at Wigan on Friday.

WILL IT BE BENEFICIAL NOT HAVING A GAME NEXT WEEK?
We would obviously have loved to have been involved in the Carnegie Challenge Cup Final but that has gone now and we need to make the most of not having a game next weekend. It will certainly not be a week off for the players, far from it, we will be working them harder than normal in training. However, with us not having a game at the weekend, it means there is more time for rest and recuperation and we can make sure that we are ready for our finals run in.

MORE RHINOS REACH LANDMARKS
A trio of Leeds Rhinos stars are set to reach personal landmarks in their career as the World Champions head to JJB Stadium on Friday night. Skipper Kevin Sinfield became the first Leeds Rhinos player to play 300 games for the club during the summer era last week in the victory over Castleford at Headingley Carnegie and he is just 42 points away from becoming only the second player in the club's 113 year history to score 2000 points in a career.

Danny McGuire scored his 147th try for the club last week, taking him level with Garry Schofield in the all time list. He is just three tries short of becoming only the 10th player in the club's history to score 150 tries in a career. He has scored his 147 tries in 182 games whilst Schofield took 251 games to reach the same milestone.

Youngster Jordan Tansey is set to make his 50th appearance for the club this Friday, his hat trick last week in the win over Castleford was the second of his professional career and took him to 20 tries for the Rhinos in 49 games. He also scored three against Catalans in 2006.

News Source: www.leedsrugby.com

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