Key talking points from Leeds Rhinos’ Cup victory over Workington Town
1: Has there ever been a better display of goal kicking at Emerald Headingley? Liam Sutcliffe, not an established first-choice marksman, kicked quite beautifully, converting all 13 tries, several off each touchline. Only Iestyn Harris has booted more goals in a game for Leeds and Sutcliffe is now joint-second, along with Harris and Lewis Jones, on that list. Sutcliffe has yet to nail down a set position, but as a way of making himself indispensable, it was hugely impressive. He is playing pretty well at stand-off, also.
2: Harry Newman is an exciting talent as his four tries showed. The 19-year-old has pace, footwork and power and looks a natural try scorer. With Kallum Watkins still feeling his way back after his long layoff last year, Newman is certainly giving coach Dave Furner a tough decision to make. Maybe Watkins would benefit from a break to work on getting over what was a major injury, but he is world class and shouldn’t be written off.
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Hide Ad3: Players like Konrad Hurrell, Tom Briscoe, Mikolaj Oledzki and Brad Dwyer will have appreciated a game off after a lot of match time this season, especially ahead of the Easter weekend, but the Cup tie was also an opportunity to give some of Leeds’ youngsters a run. All four teenagers did well with Owen Trout, Muizz Mustapha and Callum McLelland making their debut. It may be a tough time now, but the future looks bright.
4: Leeds scored some good tries when they held on to the ball, but there were far too many errors. That is maybe understandable in such a one-sided game, but they will have to be much better against Huddersfield Giants on Friday.
5: The crowd of 4,197 was around 600 up on the last time the teams met in the Cup, back in 2007. Free admission for under-16s is obviously the way forward for Challenge Cup ties.