Leeds Rhinos 26 Bradford Bulls 12: Victory will benefit us says Ablett

Carl Ablett speaks to the Headingley crowd at his testimonial yesterday.

Rhinos beat Bradford Bulls 26-12 in Ablett’s testimonial game yesterday, after trailing 12-10 at the break.

“Coming to the back end of pre-season it was the kind of hit-out we needed,” Ablett said.

“It was really tough in the first half and physically I don’t think we were quite there.

“There’s probably reasons for that, with only getting back into the country (from their Florida training camp) on Wednesday.

“But a game prepares you for Super League physically.

“The speed of it was good and we got to work on some skills. It was a good hit-out and we should feel the benefit.”

Ablett added: “In the first half we weren’t too happy defensively, we were losing too many collisions and we were on the back foot a bit, but that’s easily fixed up.

“We haven’t put too much focus on our offence, but we will fine tune that over the next few  weeks.”

A crowd of almost 6,000 turned out and Ablett said: “You never know what to expect, but the support has been great, Bradford travelled well and overall it was a great day for me.”