YEP Jury: Mixed Easter programme sums up season so far for Leeds Rhinos

ANDREW SUTCLIFFE

Half good half bad over the Easter weekend.

The Huddersfield game was as good as we’ve played all year. Brad Dwyer ripped them apart in the first half and some excellent team work in defence kept Huddersfield at arm’s length.

Although they came back into the game in the second half, Leeds had enough to close out the game and deserved the win.

The short turn around does no-one any favours and the little trip to Wakefield followed. We found ourselves 12-0 down against the run of play but appeared the better team in the first half.

Losing Wellington Albert to concussion left us light in the forwards and in the heat seemed to struggle with a substitute less. It was good to see Trent Merrin back but we looked inexperienced in the pack. I’d like to know when players like Carl Ablett, Dom Crosby, Stevie Ward etc are likely to be back.

On to Sunday and the return of some familiar faces.

Hull KR are poor and it’s a chance for us to right some wrongs from the game at their place.

LUKE CROSSFIELD

I wanted to see us not propping up the table by the Easter Monday and we achieved that by the skin of our teeth.

We were superb in the first half against Huddersfield and everything Brad Dwyer did turned into points. In typical Leeds fashion we nearly lost a 30-0 lead in the second half.

I am getting frustrated with our lack of game management when we are in control of the game.

We missed a good opportunity to go for two points just before half-time at Wakefield and the game would have been a lot different in the second half in my opinion.

Credit to Trent Merrin playing on Monday after landing back from Australia just a couple of days before.

Let’s hope Konrad Hurrell is back on the field soon, we did miss his work rate on Monday.

We need to win on Sunday at home to Hull Kingston Rovers who will want to make amends for two hammerings during Easter and have a repeat performance from our trip to Craven Park a couple of weeks ago.

THOMAS LAWRENCE

It was an Easter of mixed emotions for Leeds as we still can’t produce back-to-back league wins.

After what was indeed a Good Friday for Leeds, the usual feelings for 2019 were restored after a not-so-happy Monday. Nonetheless, we are now off the bottom of the league – sometimes it’s the small things in life that you need to look at.

It was nice to see Leeds turn the tables and score 30 unanswered points in a half of rugby and then run out comfortable winners on Friday against Huddersfield – a team that has come to Headingley and haunted us in this fixture over the last few years. I guess that we were all hoping that would be a springboard going into Monday’s trip to Wakefield? Unfortunately not the case. As ever, we move on and this week host a Hull KR side that, since beating us comfortably earlier this month, suffered a torrid time over Easter conceding two half-centuries.

I wouldn’t gamble on Leeds making that a hat-trick, but never say never.

All things said, I’d be very happy with a win and a performance where we are clinical in attack and working towards being solid in defence.

OLIVER HAWKHEAD

This Easter weekend was always going to be a challenge and I think we have done okay.

This time of the year is always strenuous for even the deepest squads in the league so to lose two of our best players in Jack Walker and Konrad Hurrell and still get the win against Huddersfield Giants is pleasing to see.

We looked very impressive in the first half with Brad Dwyer again being crucial.

The win on Friday was much needed and I said at half-time that if we went on to lose after being 30-0 up then we deserve to be relegated.

Monday’s game against Wakefield also had lots of positives.

Even though we didn’t win, our comeback in the last few minutes should install confidence in the fans that we are finally an 80-minute team.

It was a shame that we didn’t get full points from this Easter period as Wakefield without Tom Johnstone, Danny Brough and Bill Tupou were perhaps without their most clinical weapons.

Hopefully we can carry this momentum through into a big match up against Hull KR.

KATIE BURROWS

Both of the weekend’s Easter fixtures once again saw our inability to play for 80 minutes, which should not be happening at this stage in the season.

On Friday, we started quickly and were the dominant team for most of the game, but 20 minutes of silly play meant that we were worrying that the opposition might have chance to pinch the game late on.

Heading to Wakefield on Monday, I genuinely thought we’d have a chance, given their current injury situation. Both of Trinity’s first-half tries came from interceptions, which summed things up perfectly; and our decision to not opt for two points shortly before half-time was, for me, the pivotal moment. Then, a spell in the second half, where we apparently forgot how to defend, meant we had left ourselves with too much to do.

Credit to Wakefield, who deserved the win and played well, particularly Lee Kershaw, who looks a promising prospect.

We’re looking very light for Sunday’s visitors, Hull KR, with Nathaniel Peteru banned for one game and Wellington Albert ruled out with concussion. Still, I’m hopeful for a win – we definitely need it.

TIM NUTTALL

The Easter period is always a good barometer of how a season might pan out.

As it happens, the two games over the Easter have probably been a microcosm of our season so far!

A pretty good performance, excellent in the first half, against Huddersfield on Good Friday. Unfortunately, the players couldn’t get back-to-back wins against a much depleted Wakefield.

The frustrating thing is that if you go back to our first half against the Giants, it was as good as anything we have put together this season; not sure if some of that was due to the Giants’ poor defence, but the Rhinos definitely came out of the blocks fast.

The trouble seems to be that the players just can’t seem to maintain any kind of form, without conceding a try and then looking as if we will concede on every defensive set that follows it.

If we include the Hull KR game into the Easter period; if we could get a win on Sunday then four from six points wouldn’t perhaps seem too bad.

Sunday looks a massive game already.