One is never quite sure what each side will make of a night like this. Yes, the happier team will undoubtedly be Leeds Rhinos, who are finally off the mark in 2022 with their first victory of the season at the fourth attempt, while their opponents remain winless. But this was a quintessential game of two halves, played in typically early-season conditions.
At half-time, both teams would have happily decided against going back out and playing the second 40 minutes. Wakefield, who had competed in all three of their defeats so far, were at their worst in the opening period.
Defensively all at sea, they were picked apart in ruthless fashion by Leeds, who had seemingly clicked into gear after stuttering their way through three defeats of their own to begin the new campaign. They led 30-0 at the break, and few could have complained about that scoreline.
But what followed went completely against the grain of that first half. There was never any chance of a remarkable comeback, but the fact Wakefield won that second half 18-4 at least showed they are capable of surviving in Super League this season.
“They were more aggressive than us in that first half and our discipline let us down,” their coach, Willie Poching, said.
“You can’t give opposition sides that many chances but we saw a more tenacious side to us after that.”
However, his side were blown away before that. There were five Leeds tries without reply, two of them to Ash Handley, who then completed his hat-trick after half-time. In the week Shaun Wane named his latest England training squad, with Handley omitted, this was an opportune moment to produce a display of this quality.
“It’s a step in the right direction but there’s plenty more in us and still some bits to improve,” the Leeds coach, Richard Agar, said.
By half-time, the result had been comprehensively put beyond doubt by the Rhinos. After David Fusitu’a scored his first Leeds try, Morgan Gannon followed suit and Harry Newman added a third before the midway point of the half had arrived.
Handley then took centre stage, first capitalising on an error from Lewis Murphy to touch down, before cutting through on the angle in destructive fashion, with Rhyse Martin adding five goals.
Trailing 30-0, there was no way back for Wakefield, who face Toulouse next Friday in a game that could go a long way towards deciding which side is relegated to the Championship. All they could do was show some spirit and endeavour. They certainly did that, scoring three tries to Leeds’s one. They avoided the ignominy of being nilled when Matty Ashurst seized upon an error from the debuting Murphy to score.
Leeds responded when Handley claimed his hat-trick in stunning fashion under pressure from three Wakefield defenders, but it was the hosts who finished stronger. Two tries in the final ten minutes for Max Jowitt and Tom Johnstone added more respectability to the scoreline for Poching’s men, although they still remain in search of that elusive first victory.
Wakefield Jowitt; Murphy, Pitts, Batchelor, Johnstone; Miller, Lino; Whitbread, Bowes, Arona, Ashurst, Tanginoa, Crowther Interchange Fifita, Battye, Kay, Aydin Leeds Walker; Fusitu’a, Newman, Sutcliffe, Handley; Austin, Sezer; Oledzki, Leeming, Prior, Gannon, Martin, Tetevano Interchange Dwyer, Smith, Thompson, Briscoe
