Leeds Rhinos v Wakefield Trinity: Awesome foursome face off for first time

Leeds Rhinos captain and Test stalwart Kallum Watkins will face Wakefield Trinity’s 2018 Dream Team centre Bill Tupou while marquee recruit Konrad Hurrell squares up to England newcomer Reece Lyne on the other flank.

Tupou and Lyne give Trinity impressive strike power out wide and have two of the best wingers in Betfred Super League outside them, which makes for a thrilling clash according to Watkins.

Looking ahead to Rhinos’ first derby of the season, Watkins observed: “It’s exciting across the backline.

“Their wingers – Tom Johnstone and Bish [Ben Jones-Bishop] – are good as well and we’ve got Tom Briscoe and Ash Handley.

“The full-backs, Ryan Hampshire and Jack Walker, are exciting, quick players and that makes it a good battle in terms of everyone gets an opportunity when they get the ball wide.

“They have got a big set in the middle as well so we will need to contain them.”

Both teams are on the back of a positive performance last week, though Rhinos came away from St Helens with a defeat.

“Hopefully we can take some positives out of last week and bring that into this game and be better,” Watkins added.

“We need to be in good form and do the right stuff in terms of being disciplined with the ball and without it.”

Four games into his comeback from a long lay-off with an anterior cruciate knee ligament injury, Watkins feels he is now finding his feet.

“I am getting back into it,” he said. “I knew it was going to take a few weeks to get into the pace of things and the intensity of it all.

“I felt really good last week, probably the best I’ve felt in terms of training and playing as well. I am getting pretty close.

“That’s the main thing for me, getting consistent with my performances and hopefully I will push on and get better.

“I do put a lot of pressure on myself, but that’s part and parcel of wanting to win and be the best you can be.”

Returning home tonight is a boost for Rhinos after four successive away matches, only one of which ended in a win.

Watkins reflected: “The first month has been tough, going away all those games, but that’s part of the challenge and we are excited for our first home game.

“Hopefully we can get a really good crowd in and a good performance as well.

“That’s a big thing, you have got to do well for the fans and the club as well so it’s really important to win your home games.

“We want to make it a fortress. Winning is the most important thing, but to do it at home pleases us and the fans as well.

“It is important to get that right. Last week was disappointing in terms of the result, but we took some positives out of the performance; it was really good, there was just a couple of areas we were a little bit off in, which we are working on and learning from.”

Rhinos’ only success so far came at Salford Red Devils, but Watkins insisted: “It could have been more.

“We wanted to win all those games.

“In the first two we probably weren’t at our best, but it was the start of the season and bringing new players in it is going to take a bit of time.

“We got the win against Salford and we were decent against St Helens.

“There was a period in the first half when we were on top and we should have capitalised on that a bit better.

“We let ourselves down in terms of letting them back into it and we were a bit erratic.

“We should have been more patient and that’s something we have to learn as a team.

“That’s all part of it, we have moved on now and we’re looking forward to it [tonight].”

Watkins reckons Rhinos will need to be at their best to beat Trinity.

“They have been doing well for the last couple of years and they are very well coached,” he observed.

“They have got some really good players, they are dangerous and, as a team, they work very hard together.

“They’ve got Danny Brough in there as well so it’s going to be a difficult game, but we’re really looking forward to it.

“Our first home game, it should be an exciting clash and a big crowd and a decent atmosphere.”