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Matthew Shaw

Rohan Smith transcript after Leeds Rhinos thump Wigan Warriors

General thoughts

It would have to be amongst the best, we've had a few quality performances and patches in others but we were very consistent throughout. We defended very smart and together, their opportunities were limited to their most dangerous players. We did a great job with our defence tonight.

It was a good arm wrestle at the start of the game. The bounce went our way and went six up. They were chasing points and we held our line together well I thought. It's important to try and score the first try and not be scored on before halftime, then to score the first try however long it takes after second half is a theme we want to work on.

Personal performances

It's not my forte singling out people with so much to process from the game. It was a very good team performance. harry will get a lot of recognition but what our middle unit did, they kept turning up. We kept them in front of us. We only made one sub by half time so it allowed us to make strategic interchanges changes to remain strong through the middle.

Read more: Leeds Rhinos player ratings as out-of-position stars shine against Wigan Warriors

Play-off hopes

I'm not aware of how the table looks, I want to enjoy that for a few minutes and the family come tomorrow so it's a chance to be in a decent mood for Saturday before Catalans. The opportunity now is to replicate the process. Some days it doesn't fall your way as much as that did and I thought the way the crowd and the energy from the grandstand was strong from the start of the game.

The halfbacks

They're there to compliment your team process because the days they're not there you still want to be able to play in the fashion we did tonight. They jumped at the opportunity to do that this week, yet another spine combination!

Corey Johnson

Corey was going to play some time off the bench from dummy half as that's his best position but he was ill yesterday and still a bit rough this morning. He wanted to play but being such a young man and inexperience of 38 degrees after a long time away in France meant we didn't think it wise and we put Muizz in there.

Jarrod O'Connor and his development at nine

Half the game for Jarrod is the same at nine or 13, the defence is the same task, it's really learning the dummy half bit and the biggest part is picking the ball up which doesn't seem that hard but it is. Once he's stood up he's essentially playing his 13 roll. But he was a threat with the ball which is great. He's a great lad, the boys love him and he works really hard.

Delight for Muizz Mustapha and young lads

I was really happy for the game to finish how it did to reward the whole team. Muizz has been suspended for a fair time, they've been doing things not on training days, a little unit supporting each other through some hard times. Missing games is huge for players, missing one is hard, missing two or five is really draining. It means a lot to these guys so for Muzi to do that is great. I love working with all players who want to get better, play for the team, club, young old or anything in between.

David Fusitu'a injury

He had a bit of an ankle at half-time but felt right to keep going and he was playing well. It got to a point it was a bit sore in the second half. They're assessing it now to see if it's a ligament thing or jammed up. If it's that he might be okay, if it's ligament he might be a struggle for next week.

What he learned from the night

Probably confirmed my belief. I talk a lot to players or coaches about learn or confirm. There's a belief in there, I already knew that. There are a lot of good players in there and we've played good rugby over this period of time. It confirmed a lot of belief, I said at halftime I'm not surprised we had a good half but replicating it is the opportunity we have in front of us now.

The crowd

Having not been here for so long, we haven't been here for 60-something days, there's been a lot of transition and growth since that Wakefield game, ups and downs, perhaps people weren't sure what they'd see. But once they saw the energy and intent they fed off it, it was reciprocal, it was good to be part of and to have that 14th man on the field. It's a boost, obviously.

The pace of the process

I've enjoyed the process of players being really respectful to me as a different voice with different ideas. They've bought into it but it's a work in progress. Some people are going to take time and as a unit, we haven't been cohesive. The consistency of team selections hasn't been there but the upside of that has been we've been able to see lots of different combinations and lots of different players playing. That's helping me learn more about certain players in certain positions. It's been a good journey but we're just getting started.

Read next

Leeds Rhinos land highly-rated Wigan Warriors forward as Rohan Smith's rebuild continues

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