Rohan Smith could not hide his delight after Leeds Rhinos claimed an impressive 34-20 Magic Weekend win over Castleford Tigers to boost their play-off hopes. A tight first half at Newcastle United’s St James’ Park ended 10-6 to Lee Radford’s side after tries from Jake Mamo and Bureta Faraimo overturned Matt Prior’s opener.
Yet Leeds took complete control in the second half as Ash Handley went over before further tries from Aidan Sezer, Richie Myler, James Bentley and Liam Sutcliffe wrapped up the points.
Head coach Smith, whose side moved up from ninth to seventh in front of a bumper crowd of 36,821, beamed: “I really liked how we played tough when we needed to. I thought our discipline and composure was particularly good today.
Read more: Leeds Rhinos v Castleford Tigers highlights and action from Magic Weekend day one
“I think it was a pretty solid team performance and we played some pretty good stuff. We talked about rolling our sleeves up and it was a good hard battle in the first half.
“In the second half, we were really direct and that opened up some opportunities for us. There is still plenty to work on.”
Smith was without Kruise Leeming and Blake Austin but the Aussie boss reserved special praise for Jarrod O’Connor and Corey Johnson who started at hooker and half-back respectively.
Leeds wore a specially-designed jersey in honour of club legend Rob Burrow, who was diagnosed with motor neurone disease in December 2019.
Smith said: “To see a great player of our time is tough for everyone. I listened to his book on audio and it’s clear to see that Rob was a big part of what has happened at the club.
“To share the day with the family meant a lot to the whole club. We spoke about it during the week not to make it too emotional.
"We had the pleasure of his family coming to speak to us before the game and Rob’s two beautiful girls."
One concern for the Rhinos was the departure of Zak Hardaker with an injury early in the second half. Smith said: “He’s got a decent cork in his leg and he did it quite early in the game, but we don't think its anything too serious.”
Castleford hit back with two more tries from Faraimo and Mahe Fonua late on but there was no mistaking the Rhinos’ superiority.
Tigers boss Radford said: “In the first half our effort and execution was outstanding. Unfortunately there was a period in the second half where they dominated. The game could have easily got away with us given how jaded we were, but we kept on swinging.”
Sezer was sinbinned in the 77th minute for a high shot on Danny Richardson but the Australian playmaker enjoyed one of his best games since joining the club during the off-season.
Smith said of Sezer: “Aidan was really good. He had some really important carries and he put it all on himself with the kicking to look after our young half.”
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