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Matthew Shaw

Richard Agar's delight in young stars as he provides Leeds Rhinos injury update

Richard Agar praised his young stars for their adaptability following the victory over Bradford Bulls.

Agar felt his side played too lateral in the first half but changed tactics to a tee after half-time, in which they scored 30 unanswered points to beat a strong Bradford side.

It was an encouraging aspect of the performance for Agar, who was thrilled with a number of those who got a chance to impress.

"I felt first half we were tackling alright and handling their big fellas but from an attacking point of view our middles coughed up the ball in good ball, we had a few half breaks but put the ball down and I just felt we were playing sideways and we needed to get direct.

"In yardage and in midfield we were working hard and getting our fronts and getting our tempo in there. It looked too much like a team run. On a 55-metre width pitch, we had to play through them with push and support because we clearly have a smart number nine in there.

"It was just something we needed to learn from the first half. We threw a quick 18 points on them by doing that and getting around the ball carrier with footwork. But great, we've adapted, made the necessary changes to our mindset and came up with 30 unanswered points."

He continued: "It's a learning curve, the fact we have adapted and played a different style with a different mindset is great. We left our senior guys on for ten minutes at the start of the second half, but again, I thought some of the young boys adapted well and tackled strong throughout the game.

"We saw bits from Max Simpson that talent-wise he's doing the right things, I thought his try was a brilliant effort to accelerate past the fullback and go under the posts. Plenty in the basket where you'd say we've to learn from this but we can move forward."

Corey Johnson and Jarrod O'Connor were singled out for particular praise.

"I'll mention Corey Johnson, he's shown tremendous leadership with this team all week, it was his first game back, played 80 minutes and was outstanding for us, as was Jarrod O'Connor with his work rate and strength, he got stronger as the game went on.

Agar was pleased to get 50 minutes out of Jack Walker and Liam Sutcliffe, who both made their returns from injury.

"We planned to get them off at halftime but in terms of involvement, we felt we could get more out of them. It was good for them to come through unscathed, I thought Jack, after a difficult start found his feet early in the second half and Liam got plenty of touches. I'm pleased with the contribution from those two and we'll look to get them more minutes next week."

Sam Walters will be assessed after sustaining a shoulder injury that forced him from the field in the first half.

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