Got the feeling Newman was precautionary. Didn't notice Fus come off. In any case, they'll both have a full pre-season for the first time in a long time.

Well thank god we finished on a positive. Well done young sinfield that will do him a huge amount of good going into the offseason. It really surprised me how he took control, there’s a player there isn’t there and I’m delighted. Needs a lot of time yet and cas were awful but a good news story.

End of a terrible season and some bloody importance recruitment to get right now and get it right they must.

Enjoyed the game which makes a change .
Very quick with the ball without Cam Smith slowing it down .Sinfield will be good but still very young .Johnson looked good at hooker .
Best was Austin who showed exactly why he wasn’t offered a new contract,.

Sinfields intercept was such a great read, that he pinched the ball off Austin was a bonus.

Watching the highlights back it was great to see how involved he was in most trys.

Great to hear some positivity on here too! Reset was needed for us to look ahead with hope….

enjoyed the game. some good trys and it might not be a popular decision but I'd rather johnson than o'connor.
have to add how bad were cas. they looked dire

Both did fine. TMW is not very tall but too early to say if will make a good SL player. For next year we need another prop imo.
Going out on loan may be best for TMW to bring him on.
Edgell looked to be playing at 6 at the end. It got a bit messy with fusi and Newman off.

Yeah, Johnson is a better passer, that first ball makes such a difference.

Cas barely finished a set

That’s the first pre season friendly out of the way for the 2024 - 2025 season. Unfortunately Cas won the two games that mattered in the 23-24 season. Most of the Cas players had bodies in Headingley and minds in Benidorm last night. The best part for me was being on the Western Terrace while the inbreds survival party blew up in their faces. Comedy gold.

How did the protests go?

Clearly they need to threaten protest more often xD

Tadster totally agree with all this.

Johnson was really bossing the team about last night and organising them, think he enjoyed a more senior role. His game is not flashy but all about control and he needs a dominant pack like all 9s.

I actually think this Harvey Smith from Wakey would be a good complement for Johnson as he is pacier and more direct.

O’Connor looked better a little wider out but I don’t know what his position is still after years watching him.

It's catch 22 with both of them. O'Connor is a far better defensive player in the middle and that is extremely important. Equally his distribution can be very poor and Johnson’s tends to be far better. Neither has got much of a scoot. It's a puzzle.

My oh my how bad were Cas tonight.
I`ve not been a fan of Johnson but he played really well tonight as did Fusitua.
Who got MoM?
I would have given it to Sinfield.
And I agree Cam Smith once he has a couple of decent halves to play with would be much better than trying to run the show on his own.
Great to see the team get back to winning ways but I reckon Stanningley would have pushed Cas close last night.

If CJ and Oconnor spend the preseason training improving their skills ( and hopefully we have someone to teach / improve that) I'm sure they can add to what they already do

O’Connor came through as a 13 in the academy although has played other positions as a junior I believe.

Johnson has put a bit of size on this season, if he improves again for me his distribution and game awareness is just better then JOC. I think Jarrod might end up in the back row again but he’ll be yet another Donaldson/Bentley/McDonnell type.

Now I did spot that Jarrod could play hooker early, and he can, but I don’t think he’s at the right level for Leeds as full time hooker - even though he kindof pushed Leeming out.

Was watching quite closely last night and so many balls from DH were at the receiver’s face or to the side, it stops their momentum, increases chances of errors and reduces their impact at the line.

Oh for sure, I just think both are young enough that some hard work will improve them no end.
Might not become world beaters but if Joc can boost his passing/ distribution abd CJ get a bit more of a scoot/ smart plays then the team will do much better

Sam Walters was MoM. I agree that Sinfield deserved it, and would have been my vote.

Sam had a decent game, but I got the feeling it was partially a farewell gift.

I think RS needs great credit this week. Under all sorts of pressure, and the team we had out couldn’t have gone much better.

I thought he really for the side up for that game and we smashed Cas to the point they didn’t want it.

if he deserve credit for getting them up for last night does he not deserve criticism for his failure to do so for the vast majority of the season?

I don’t want to get carried away as Castleford were dire last night, but it was the first time it actually looked like we had a structure to our attack. Like they genuinely called and lined up plays when in the opposition half. Was strange to see after looking clueless for the majority of the other 26 games.

I like the way JOC and CJ were used. I don’t mind JOC as a solid first 30 mins tackle everything. CJ is much more fluid in attack and without out Smith/Sezer/Austin outside he was calling plays and taking control. Sinfield looked good as well, good controlled kicking game and I loved that inside step for the Lisone try.

Without another few signings of proper quality it will likely be much the same next year. Happy to sign off the season with a win.

Im not sure it would automatically be the same as this year, look at all the disruption i cannot see that happening again next year

If Johnson can nail the 9 shirt and is the better option, O’Connor is perfect for the 14 role off the bench with the current concussion rules etc. He can do a decent job or allow you to shuffle people pretty much anywhere.