'No complaints': reasons Leeds Rhinos beat Salford Red Devil revealed by defeated coach Paul Rowley
Leeds Rhinos’ win at Salford Red Devils was built on dominance in two key areas, defeated coach Paul Rosley reckons.
Rhinos got off the mark in Betfred Super League with a 32-6 victory in round two on Saturday, a week after losing 14-12 at home to Wakefield Trinity. Salford scored inside two minutes, but Leeds were on top after that and the home boss had “no complaints”.
Rowley said: “I thought we started really brightly, but across Super League at the start of the season rucks are really slow and that is contributing to a real war of attrition physically. You have got to win the physical battle.
“We’ve seen defences that are dominant all across Super League, really tough and uncompromising. There’s two commodities you need at the beginning of the season, the way it’s running at the minute.
“One is completion at a high rate and the other is toughness in defence. I thought we started well, but after about the first 20 minutes Leeds dominated both those areas. They completed high and were physically dominant across the board and absolutely deserved the manner of the victory they got.”
With the club’s future now resolved and a £1.2m salary cap limit lifted, Rowley made 17 changes from the side hammered 82-0 at St Helens in round one. “They are probably a few games in, the two league games and friendlies as well,” he said of Leeds.
“They are a bit more battled-hardened than us in that respect. In any big game it’s the team that can do everything at a better standard and physically higher standard for longer periods of time and that was Leeds. That’s the level we need to aspire to get to.
“It’s really important we raise our game because we weren’t good enough against a really strong Leeds side who totally deserved their win. We’ve got no complaints.”