Peter Smith’s Inside Rugby League - New rules are taking their toll on Super League’s big men

In the seven games played since the competition returned from its coronavirus break, there have been five one-sided scorelines and two matches decided by a point.

Even in each of those thrillers, one side built a big lead before the other staged a dynamic fighback in the closing stages.

The game is now faster than ever before, as a legacy of scrums being abolished, for this season at least, on health grounds – and set restarts replacing penalties after minor infringements.

There are now very few breaks in play and once a team get on a roll, perhaps because the opposition is making errors or conceding penalties and restarts, they become hard to stop.

That is reflected in an average winning score over the past two weekends of 32-13.

In the two weekends before Covid-19 brought Super League to a halt, the average score – over nine matches played – was 26-13.

That included Leeds Rhinos’ 66-12 demolition of Toronto Wolfpack, who are no longer part of the competition.

Take that out and the average winning score drops to 24.

Both the close games since the resumption could have gone a similar way to the other, one-sided, fixtures.

Leeds trailed 26-6 against Huddersfield Giants before hitting back to win 27-26 in extra-time and Wakefield Trinity lost 23-22 to Wigan Warriors after going 22-6 behind.

Whether Giants and Wigan switched off or just got sloppy, both conceded a flurry of late penalties and that allowed their opposition to build some momentum.

It is also possible both Giants and Warriors ran out of steam in the final quarter.

Particularly on a billiard table-like surface, which Emerald Headingley is at the moment and in warm, dry conditions, the speed of the game takes its toll, especially on the big men in the middle of the field.

Blow-out scores don’t make for great viewing, but things may well settle down once everyone, players coaches and referees, get to grips with the new normal.

There have been some outstanding individual performances so far. St Helens had several in their rout of Rhinos and Israel Folau proved, for Catalans Dragons against Castleford Tigers, he is a world-class rugby league player, whatever anyone might think of his behaviour otherwise.

Tui Lolohea has returned to Headingley twice since leaving Leeds last season and been on the winning side both times.

He never settled at Rhinos, but that wasn’t his fault and in Salford Red Devils’ thrashing of Hull he showed the qualities which attracted Leeds’ interest in the first place.

Another thing the game has produced over the past two weekends is spectacular touchdowns.

Regan Grace’s three scores, particularly his two long-range efforts for Saints against Leeds, will appear on highlight reels for years to come, but the likes of Rhinos’ Luke Briscoe, Huddersfield’s Darnell McIntosh and Salford’s Chris Atkin have all produced moments of magic.

The best finisher in Super League, though, is Wakefield Trinity’s Tom Johnstone.

Taking the corner flag out of play was one of the sport’s finest innovations and players like Johnstone have revelled in the extra opportunities that gives them.

His try against Wigan, when he caught a Tony Gigot kick under pressure from Bevan French and somehow managed to get the ball down from what seemed an impossible angle, was a stunner – particularly considering he was playing with a painful arm injury.

It produced a shout of delight from Sky TV’s pundits, who weren’t on air at the time and was yet another indication of what an exciting talent Trinity have unearthed.

Johnstone, who is celebrating his 25th birthday today, has a big future in rugby league and while players of his calibre are around, the sport will always be worth watching.

A message from the Editor:

Leeds has a fantastic story to tell - and the Yorkshire Evening Post has been rooted firmly at the heart of telling the stories of our city since 1890. We believe in ourselves and hope you believe in us too. We need your support to help ensure we can continue to be at the heart of life in Leeds.

A letter from the editor

Subscribe to our website and enjoy unlimited access to local news and information online and on our app. With a digital subscription, you can read more than 5 articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Click HERE to subscribe. For more details on our newspaper subscription offers click HEREThank you, Laura Collins