'A lot to admire': Leeds Rhinos talking points from epic Super League win over Catalans Dragons

A Leeds victory didn’t seem likely at half-time when they trailed 22-8, but Rhinos produced an outstanding attacking performance after the break to score 24 unanswered points.

Here’s six talking points from a memorable 80 minutes in front of the live Channel 4 cameras.

1: There was a lot to admire about the way Rhinos played, which was a chalk and cheese to their dismal effort at the Jungle.

Even in the first-half, Leeds performed fairly well; they responded strongly to going behind in the opening moments, grabbed two tries and created a couple more good opportunities, before Catalans rallied to build what looked like a match-winning lead.

After the interval Rhinos produced some of their best attacking rugby since Rohan Smith took charge last May, posing an attacking threat throughout which Catalans couldn’t contain.

Most impressive was the way they responded to adversity, trailing by three scores, some incidents going against them and having Harry Newman sin-binned.

The spirit they showed to overcome all that was outstanding - and credit is also due to the excellent 14,331 crowd for playing their part.

2: Rhinos’ performances have varied, but take the Castleford debacle out of it and they have been improving since their round one nightmare at Warrington Wolves.

Warrington and - until their trip to Headingley - Catalans are the only sides to have found any consistency so far and with two points separating third-placed Wigan Warriors from Leigh Leopards in eighth, stringing three or four wins together could make a huge difference. Rhinos face a tricky game at Hull KR on Friday and what they can’t afford to do is let the momentum slip the way they did after the victories over St Helens and Wakefield Trinity.

3: Against Catalans, stand-off Blake Austin produced his best performance in a Leeds shirt and was unplayable at times. A smart kick created field position for Rhinos’ first try, his boot set up the second, a terrific run led to the third and he provided the final pass for the fifth and - after his 40-20 - sixth. Austin has been putting the effort in all season and it was good to see it pay off in spectacular fashion.

4: There has been debate in the media and among fans about Rhinos’ plans for their acting-half role in the wake of Kruise Leeming’s impending exit

Based on last Saturday, what they need to do is absolutely nothing. Jarrod O’Connor had another outstanding game as the starter; he may have a reputation as a defensive nine, but his running was excellent and he nipped in for a clever try. Then Corey Johnson came on for his first Super League appearance of the season and didn’t look out of place at all. He is a natural hooker, who has played there all his career and has long been tipped by Rhinos’ management as a future star. At 21 and 22 respectively, they are both still in the rookie stage, but have huge potential.

5: Catalans must be congratulated on their discipline, having conceded only one penalty - for kicking a restart out on the full. Leeds were penalised only four times, including when they were marched 10 metres for dissent, so referee Liam Moore took very much a laissez-faire approach, probably too much so at times.

Leeds also had three set restarts, two of them on the first tackle and one leading to a Catalans try. For certain teams, that’s a deliberate ploy and it’s something the RFL should address.

Following Mitchell Pearce’s controversial try for Catalans, which looked like a double-movement, it would also be interesting to know what exactly constitutes enough evidence for the video referee to overturn an on-field call.

6: In 50 years’ time, wide-eyed youngsters will ask their grandparents ‘were you there that day, when Rhyse Martin missed five conversions?’

Some were off the touchline, but on another afternoon he could have back-heeled most of them over. It was sensible for Aidan Sezer to take over for the sixth attempt and equally so - for a confidence point of view - giving Martin duties back for the last kick, from in front of the posts when the game was won.

In the end Rhinos scored seven tries to four, which is comprehensive and Martin has probably got his quota of misses out of the way for the next 10 games, which might come in handy in future tight encounters.