Amateurs proud after 92-0 Challenge Cup loss at Leeds Rhinos as coach says 'didn't have to do that'

The two teams posed for a joint picture after the Betfred Challenge Cup third round tie and Rhinos coach Brad Arthur and sporting director Ian Blease went into Warriors’ changing room to thank them for playing in the right spirit - to the delight of the visitors’ players and coach Kimbo Parkinson. “He didn’t have to do that,” Parkinson said.

“That’s the sign of a great coach, it made our players respect him even more. It was a big deal and we’ll take away this whole experience - from the bus ride up to the bus ride home, we’re going to soak it all up and enjoy it.”

The prospect of an amateur team facing a near full-strength Super League side raised fears for the safety of the Warriors players, but Parkinson insisted his team loved every minute. “After the Army game in the last round we sat down as a group and talked about it,” he said.

“There were injury concerns from people outside the club, but our players were happy to come up here and play.

“It didn’t worry them at all that they were playing against a professional outfit. It didn’t concern us; we were realistic about the match, we weren’t going to win the game, but we wanted to do our club proud and London rugby league proud and I think we did.

“Perhaps we might have been a bit taken aback by the occasion, in the first five-10 minutes, but we went into the sheds at half-time and reassessed everything and the players were keen to get back out there.

“For us, the scoreline doesn’t reflect the game in terms of what we are going to take from it. There’s a lot of things we can improve and work on, but it’s going to put us in good stead for the season because we aren’t going to come up against a Leeds Rhinos in the Southern Conference.”