A lot of attention may have been afforded to Sam Lisone on his Leeds Rhinos debut, but after the hooter sounded, a number of other players had caught the eye more. In what was a good hit out with strong intensity levels, we take a look at three standouts for the Rhinos.
Luis Roberts
In what was his first outing in blue and amber, the former Leigh centre made quite the introduction. It had looked like it could be a long afternoon when Ricky Leutele got the better of him for Leigh's opening try, with the former Huddersfield centre getting on his outside a bit too easy before passing to Josh Charnley to score. But his response was fantastic. His try was an absolute beauty, bashing his way through Leutele, no mean feat, to break free. With Hardaker to beat, he sold one of the best defensive players ever with a superb dummy and went to the line himself. Can pre-season scores be try of the season contenders? If so, it will be up there. After that, he defended Leutele excellently, denying him any further opportunities and even prompting a knock-on. At a time when Leeds are short of their two front-line centres, Roberts might have just put Rohan Smith's mind at ease for round one.
Aidan Sezer
It was interesting to note that Sezer operated on the right side of the field in his first-half stint, as opposed to the left where he has played throughout his career. But this was a good outing, playing his part in both tries. For the first, he changed the tempo of the attack well to provide Luis Roberts the space to do damage, and for the second his deft pass for Walters put him through the line. Defensively he missed a few tackles but his involvements on the ball were good and he looked threatening. But he was evidently vocal in setting up attacks and steering his team around the field, which was another good sign.
Levi Edwards
The young centre showed some great signs here as he continues to develop his game. The highlight was a try-saving tackle in Ricky Leutele in the second half when Leigh found the destructive centre on a crash ball close to the line. But Edwards stood his ground and denied Leutele his second try, some going when you consider Edwards is only 18. He also bundled Josh Charnley out of touch with a defensive effort soon after and generally stood up well. After proving himself at Championship level last season with York, he might not to be too far off a Super League call-up if this is anything to go by.
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