Rohan Smith was proud of his Leeds Rhinos players after they produced a heroic comeback to beat Catalans 36-32 in Golden Point. Losing Matt Prior to a red card, the Rhinos looked dead and buried.
They were 30-6 down, but that adversity most certainly re-energised them, and from then on everything came off, with five tries rounding off the most insane comeback win. It was incredible, and the whole crowd was left stunned.
Smith, meanwhile, was pleased with his side's ability to never give in, no matter how hopeless the situation, praising his players who kept up with his philosophies until the end.
"I was really excited at the end there," Smith revealed. "At the end we were still full of running which is how we are trying to prepare our players.
"We didn't start well - we were really clunky with our attack at the start of the game. We lacked any kind of fluency which didn't take any petrol out of Catalans.
"But we're certainly training like we can finish games strongly which has been the case in many of our recent games, including the one today."
Ever since Smith got the Leeds job, there's been a clear improvement in his players. Rejuvenated and galvanised, there's a hunger about them again.
In truth, it's been mental, and for Leeds' loyal supporters, probably not good for their heart rates, but it's entertaining all the least.
For Smith, there's plenty more to come as well. Yet after an influential performance, it's hard to look past Aidan Sezer, who had a great game, setting up one try, having a hand in Leeds' attack and obviously scoring the try in golden point.
"Aidan is important to our team as any halfback is," Smith admitted. "I love Aidan. I've had a relationship with Aidan for a long time.
"His running game is under-estimated by everyone including himself I think. I was glad to see him get another one there tonight. It's who is out there on the field that matters, though.
"They're a dangerous team the one that's chasing points at times. We're trying to build a game where we can play free flowing footy where you don't necessarily need to chase points, but that helps with those moments where you are chasing points.
"They look like they're enjoying themselves, but look at the defence. The scoreboard won't show that but defending with twelve players for 25 minutes plus the other ten so to defend the tryline like we did, that's unbelievable really."
Leeds had to dig in as a result of Matt Prior's sending off, who was dismissed for a tackle not long after returning to the field from a sin bin.
It was a crucial period of the game, and at that point, Leeds looked beyond gone. They were falling apart.
However, they tried the impossible and the impossible came off. Yet, that doesn't soften the blow for Smith who wasn't sure if the red card was justified.
"You have to slow those down and have a look," he added. "I think the incident that he got sent off for, you slow it down up close with the one angle we've got, and the player hits him in the chest.
"Matt has both feet on the ground in that tackle. Yeah, I'm not sure on that one."
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