Leeds Rhinos talking points: best defence, half-back boon, Mac's impact, disrespecting Tony Smith

The 34-10 defeat of Hull FC, on a short turnaround, was another step in the right direction for Rhinos following their 18-17 victory against Huddersfield Giants.

For the first time this year, Rhinos have won more games than they’ve lost and now boast a positive points difference. Here’s five talking points.

1: Coach Rohan Smith admitted Rhinos “weren’t great” against Hull and are a “better defensive team than an attacking one” on current form.

An ultimately comprehensive victory, by six tries to two, was built on Rhinos’ defensive effort in the opening quarter.

After an early break by Hull full-back Davy Litten, Leeds got bogged down in their own territory, due to a succession of yardage errors.

Hull are low on confidence and struggling for form, but if they could have grabbed a try or two during that spell it might have been a different story.

As it was, Leeds kept them out and made the most of it once they got field position, running in three first-half tries.

It wasn’t particularly pretty and Rhinos will be more suited to better conditions, if and when they arrive, but they showed they can play wet weather rugby and the win went some way to exorcising demons from the rain-lashed debacle at Hull KR two weeks earlier.

2: Half-back Aidan Sezer passed his head injury assessment (hia) so isn’t automatically ruled out of Friday’s game at Leigh Leopards, despite not featuring in the second-half against Hull.

But as well as the head knock, he rolled an ankle and could be a doubt for the next game. If so, Smith has options at half-back.

Jack Sinfield had a fine game, bagging a couple of tries, for Rhinos’ reserves in their win over Hull. When he went off, fellow teenager Morgan Gannon - returning from his near two-month layoff - came on in the halves.

Corey Johnson, substitute hooker last Friday, can also play there and Cameron Smith did the job in last year’s Grand Final.

Most obviously, Richie Myler did well standing in for Sezer, with Ash Handley also impressing as a makeshift full-back. For the first time in a while, Rhinos have competition for most places in the team.

3: It was a surprise to see Tom Holroyd on the bench for the first time this season, with Sam Lisone getting his second competitive Leeds start at prop.

But Holroyd got plenty of game time and his try showed why he has been called into the England squad ahead of this month’s Test against France.

Lisone seems to be finding his feet after a slow start to his Leeds career. He backed up from the Giants game with another strong display and some of his bulldozing runs showed why Smith was so keen to bring him over from Gold Coast Titans. Keep that up and opposing players won’t relish getting in front of him.

4: There’s no doubt about the surprise package for Rhinos in the first third of the season. James McDonnell wasn’t expected to be a regular in Leeds second-row this year following his move from Wigan Warriors, via Leigh, but Gannon’s concussion gave him a shot and he has taken it with both hands.

The Hull game was his seventh successive start and he scored his third try in as many matches.

The Ireland international, just 23, has an eye for the line to back up his high work rate in defence and is proving a really astute addition.

5: You can only beat what’s in front of you, but Hull are struggling at the moment so nobody will be getting carried away with this latest win, despite numerous positives.

FC’s coach Tony Smith has inherited a difficult situation and there are similarities with what happened last year when Daryl Powell - who Smith succeeded as Leeds coach 20 years ago this autumn - took charge of Warrington Wolves.

Warrington stood by their man and, despite their loss to Wigan at the weekend, he has turned things around. Smith will do the same at Hull, given the chance.

Chants of “getting sacked in the morning” from a small section of Leeds fans in the South Stand were disrespectful to one of the club’s finest coaches, who - building on foundations laid by Powell - led Rhinos to two Super League titles and set the club on course for an unparalleled period of success.