Leeds Rhinos boss Rohan Smith delighted with all-round display at Hull FC

Rhinos sparkled in attack with winger Ash Handley scoring five of their 11 tries, including three in an 11-minute spell at the end of the match.

They also defended strongly, conceding only three touchdowns – including an interception and one to a kick – in a win which kept alive their hopes of a top-six finish in Betfred Super League.

Smith said: “We’ve been working hard on all aspects of our game and that’s probably the first time when it has been an all round game, where we’ve largely been in control throughout. The scoreline was close for a while, but I thought we showed some of what we can do, for sure.”

The spine of full-back Richie Myler, halves Blake Austin and Aidan Sezer and hooker Kruise Leeming paved the way for Rhinos’ highest away score since 2009.

“It was the first time Aidan, Kruise and Blake have played well together, which is a positive step for us,” added Smith.

The coach made a tactical change by restoring Myler in the number one role and shifting Zak Hardaker to right-centre and insisted: “Personnel-wise, I thought it needed to happen this week.

“We probably weren’t really sure what our team was going to look like up until midday.

“When I told Zak, he was excited by playing right centre; he loves playing there and loves playing full-back as well.

“He’s a good team guy and he didn’t hesitate playing there and obviously Richie had a big impact on the game. He is a tough competitor.

“The part you probably can’t see is the chat and the glue he connects people with.

“He’s a real chemistry guy and a team guy and I really liked how he played.”

Handley became only the fourth Leeds player to score five tries in a Super League game, after Danny McGuire (twice), Ali Lauitiiti and Ryan Hall.

“He’s a top-end finisher,” Smith said.

“He’s probably a little bit underestimated with how hard he carries the ball in yardage as well.

“He’s a great team guy and a leader and it’s nice to see a winger get a bunch of tries once in a while to reward the effort.”

After conceding 72 points in their previous two games, Smith was equally pleased with a dramatic defensive improvement.

“I thought our defence at the start of the game particularly set up the process we wanted to go through,” he noted.

“Our edge defence was strong, we were very connected.

“It was a positive defensive performance, for sure.”

The boss praised his assistants Sean Long and Jamie Jones-Buchanan for their role in the victory, which set up a huge Magic Weekend derby with Castleford Tigers at Newcastle in five days’ time.

He said: “It was an important game for us to play well in and I liked the way we started.

“We went about things how we practised, with the plan Longy put in place in attack.

“We highlighted what their attack might look like at the start of the game, Jonesy did a good job covering that early in the week and getting ourselves set for what was coming.”