Greenwood refuses to sugar coat ‘awful’ display by Dewsbury Rams

Rams, who gave a debut to Leeds Rhinos loan duo Owen Trout and Muizz Mustapha, are ninth in the Betfred Championship after one win, a draw and three defeats this season.

Halifax are fifth and Greenwood made no effort to sugar coat the result or performance.

“It was awful, bad from start to finish,” he said of the setback yesterday.

“We got completely dominated in every area.

“It was probably a case of Halifax hitting their straps a bit and us being below-par.

“Going into the game, because of how we’ve been playing and how they have been playing, I think people expected something different but, for me, it is what it is.

“They are going for the top-five and have been a top-four team for the last few years, up against a team who have finished eighth regularly and are finding their feet a bit.

“It’s disappointing because I thought we might be better than that, but that’s how it is at the moment.”

Sunday’s game was a tough introduction for Rams’ Leeds forward pairing who both played for England academy in last year’s Test series triumph against Australian Schoolboys.

“It was a very physical game and that’s the part they need to get used to the most,” Greenwood said.

“It was hard to assess them because everybody struggled – it was not an easy way to come into the team.

“They need to step up from academy rugby. They could still play for Leeds’ under-19s, but rather than just keeping them to win games and make that team stronger, Leeds want to turn them into Super League players. They will have learned a lot from playing against a top-end Championship team and they’ll be better for it.”