Bradford Bulls v Leeds Rhinos reaction as Rohan Smith hails young players, explains James McDonnell absence, praises ref

Smith was happy with the way his squad, including a dozen teenagers, stood up against a strong Bulls outfit whose competitive campaign begins next Sunday. The boss also provided injury news on James McDonnell and Alfie Edgell - who didn’t play - and praised referee Aaron Moore’s handling of the pre-season derby.

“It was a great experience,” Smith said in his post-match press briefing. “It was a huge step up for those kids, playing against a Championship team who have played three or four games already, so it was a really purposeful experience. For a few senior players it was a chance to get the ball rolling and get some match practice.

“Physically it was a step up against fully experienced Super League and Championship veterans who are getting ready to play a competitive game next week. It was a tough challenge and a big stretch for a lot of those kids, but they handled it.”

Smith stressed: “The thing with young kids is you try and blood them in an experienced team, that’s the best way. In a practice game like that it’s good to get them all out there together and find out who’s who. They’ll be better for it.”

Stand-off Fergus McCormack, one of three 17 year olds in Leeds’ 22, made a big impression in the second half, splitting Bulls’ defence with a fine break before providing the pass for Derrell Olpherts to score. Smith enthused: “He’s a great young kid.

“We haven’t seen too much of him, he’s still at school at Woodhouse Grove so he’s training mostly with the academy, but he’s a kid who continues to improve. He’s a terrific young bloke.”

Rhinos were without forward McDonnell who was named in their initial squad, but suffered a setback in training. Explaining that and the absence of young full-back Edgell, Smith said: “Macca had an innocuous little twist at training when we did some wrestling the other day. It’s likely not too serious, but he certainly wasn’t right to play today. [Edgell] had a lower limb injury last week at training. He’ll be out for a month.”

Leon Ruan, who hadn’t played since suffering a dislocated shoulder last September, was drafted into the squad to replace McDonnell. “He was cleared to play earlier in the week,” Smith said. “When Macca pulled out it was a chance to get him a shift there. It was a good start for him. He is coming off a long-term injury, he’s had a terrific rehab and he’ll be better for that.”

Of the other players returning from injury, Smith confirmed: “Everybody came through fine, probably a bit ring rusty in a couple of cases, but I thought they got the ball rolling and it was a good opportunity for them to get hit by a few people today and get started.”

Second-row Ben Hursey-Hord, who has spent time on dual-registration with Halifax Panthers in pre-season, limped off after 20 minutes. “He rolled an ankle,” Smith said. “It’s likely nothing too serious, but in a game where you’ve got unlimited interchanges, it wasn’t a day for somebody to be hobbling through and finishing the game.”

Assessing where Sunday’s game was lost, Smith added: “The other team just beat us to the loose ball on a few occasions. That was the key difference in the first half, then there were a couple of moments when our goalline defence wasn’t purposeful enough getting forward. But the general flow of the game, I thought it was a good, hard battle and it had some flow to it.I thought the referee did a good job.”