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Superleague XVIII - Round 27
5th September 2013
Supermen
The opening twenty can only be described as brutal as both sides showed that they were up for the challenge and wanting to secure third spot, for no-one has reached the Grand Final from fourth.
It looked like Carl Ablett had opened the scoring for the Rhinos after early Leeds domination but the video replay showed a double movement and the four points were chalked off.
Leeds dominated but couldn't find their way past a strong Warriors defence but on the rare occasions that Wigan got into the Leeds half they looked dangerous, having a try of their own ruled out for a marginal forward pass.
Brilliant
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On twenty-three the Rhinos broke the deadlock thanks to a brilliant Jones-Bishop intercept which saw him run ninety metres with Sam Tomkins in hot pursuit. Just as it looked like Tomkins would make the all important tackle, BJB found another metre of pace and went over. Sinfield missed the conversion but with the Rhinos in full control there was the feeling that it might be the first of many.
Onthe half-hour it looked like a Hardaker grubber, flicked back by Watkins into the hands of Jones-Bishop would extend the lead but referee Silverwood ruled it our for offside.
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With two minutes to go to the hooter, we got mugged.
Sam Tomkins stole the ball deep in his own twenty and three play-the-balls later Green broke for forty metres before passing to the supporting Richards to go over and send the home fans barmy. Richards converted his own and took his side into the interval with an unexpected and mostly undeserved 6-4 lead.
It was a bit of a knock-back but with the possession and position that we'd had in the first half, along with the sheer defensive effort from the Warriors, we were in the box seat for the second half.
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It took just two minutes of it for the Rhinos to regain the lead a Moon ran towards the Rhinos left corner, drew in three defenders and then offloaded to Carl Ablett to step out of three attempted tackles and score. Sinfield kicked the extras for 10-6.
On sixty, the Rhinos still in total control, Moon extended the lead with a brilliant one-handed grounding next to the left corner flag off a Ryan Hall pass. Sinfield converted brilliantly from the touchline for 16-6.
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Awesome
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The game was finally put beyond Wigans reach thanks to a moment of Watkins brilliance as he collected his own short kick through and dove over the line to score. Sinfield added the extra two for 20-6 and it was game over.
Wigan didn't give up but the Rhinos defence held strong to secure a famous victory and send the Warriors to the minor premiers in the opening play-off rounds.
This was a mighty team performance against a strong Wigan side who could muster no answer. Ablett, Singleton and Peacock were awesome in the forwards and McGuire, Sinfield and Burrow combined brilliantly in the halves.
It was a delight to watch and the remainnig six sides in the play-offs will have been watching the game with growing alarm that the Rhinos are once again hitting form and getting back to full strength as we approach the business end of the season.
This was a great Leeds performance to behold, bring on next Saturday afternoon and a trip to Warrington.
Please vote for your Man-of-the-Match in the front page poll.
Match Facts
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No.
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Player
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T
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G
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DG
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No.
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Player
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T
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G
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DG
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1
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Hardaker
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1
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Tomkins S.
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2
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Jones-Bishop
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1
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2
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Charnley
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3
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Watkins
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1
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3
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Goulding
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4
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Moon
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1
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17
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Thornley
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5
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Hall
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5
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Richards
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1
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1
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13
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Sinfield
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2
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6
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Green
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6
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McGuire
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7
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Smith
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8
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Leuluai
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10
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Mossop
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7
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Burrow
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9
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McIlorum
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10
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Peacock
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38
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Powell
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12
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Ablett
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1
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11
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Hansen
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11
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Jones-Buchanan
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12
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Farrell
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23
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Singleton
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15
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Flower
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15
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Delaney
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16
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Tuson
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19
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Achurch
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23
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Tomkins L.
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17
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Kirke
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26
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Crosby
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26
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Sutcliffe
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21
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Taylor
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Kick Off:
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20:00
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Half-Time:
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04-06
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Referee:
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Richard Silverwood
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Crowd:
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14,982
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