Daryl Powell got his era underway with a narrow victory at Headingley as Wire started 2020 on a positive note thanks to a late try from Connor Wrench in an enthralling contest.
Powell's first lineup contained debuts for Peter Mata'utia, Oliver Holmes and Joe Bullock, but the likes of Jack Hughes, Toby King, Billy Magoulias, Greg Minikin and James Harrison were all missing through injury, meaning Robbie Mulhern and Matt Davis were afforded rare starts. Wire started on the back foot but went in front thanks to a terrific try from deep finished off by Gareth Widdop after great hands from Wrench. The Rhinos were soon down to twelve men when perennial grub James Bentley was sent for an early bath after a high and reckless challenge on Widdop. Despite this, Leeds were in the ascendancy and went ahead with two quick-fire tries from Zane Tetevano and Matt Prior. Ex-Warrington hooker Brad Dwyer was sin-binned before half-time and Wire found a way through against eleven men, Josh Charnley crossing for his first of the year after some good passing play by George Williams, Matt Davis and Oliver Holmes. Again though, the Rhinos hit back with a try from winger Ash Handley early in the second half, and things went from bad to worse for Powell when Holmes was sent to the sin bin himself. A nice cut-out pass from Ratchford had Charnley over again and Wire finally took the lead when Wrench crossed for the winning try six minutes from time to earn a hard-fought win. Here are my six talking points...
1) The new era starts with a win
It wasn't pretty but Daryl Powell kicks off his Wire tenure with a narrow victory over one of his former clubs. This was a big win, despite the circumstances. Not many teams will win at Headingley this year.
2) Pretty deep
We've seen examples already of how much Wire will look to promote the ball from deep and construct attacks. The first try in particular was a magnificent example of this.
3) Go-forward
The main reason we'll be so reliant on attacking from deep this season will be the problems we have in the forwards department. A 12-man Leeds side absolutely ran riot through the middle. We just don't have enough size.
4) The number one
Stefan Ratchford was tremendous yesterday. As well as nailing pressure conversions, he came up with an early try-saver and registered two assists. Powell said Ratchford would be the biggest beneficiary of his changes and we've seen early signs of that.
5) Centre of excellence
I was impressed with Connor Wrench, who produced some moments of serious quality - his pass for the first try was delicious. He did make a few errors but could be a real star.
6) Break down
Wire still seem to be struggling to know how to break down an opposition defence near the line - despite them being down to 12 and 11 men at times. Concerning.
Player Ratings
Stefan Ratchford - 8/10
Man of the match. Came up to the challenge in the pressure moments.
Matty Ashton - 5/10
Positionally very average in both attack and defence.
Connor Wrench - 7/10
Two moments of quality for the first and last tries, though made a few errors with ball in hand.
Peter Mata'utia - 7/10
Big metres and brings about an immense work-rate to the centre position.
Josh Charnley - 6/10
Two tries with two good finishes, though should've had three and needed to do better for the Handley try.
Gareth Widdop - 6/10
Finished off a nice attacking move but didn't impact the game in the way he should.
George Williams - 5.5/10
Kicking game was very average and had little influence over the match.
Robbie Mulhern - 5/10
Worked hard but was bowled over for Tetevano's try.
Daryl Clark - 5/10
Not a great performance, and is out of Thursday's game.
Mike Cooper - 6.5/10
Came up with a few sloppy errors but was still our best metre-maker.
Ben Currie - 8/10
Terrific. Kept their winger silent all day long and made some good breaks.
Oliver Holmes - 7/10
Set up the second try and was unlucky not to have another assist, though was sin-binned.
Matt Davis - 7/10
Came up with two great balls for the second try and had a good game all around.
Joe Philbin - 5/10
Did absolutely nothing of note.
Jason Clark - 5/10
Very quiet performance, hardly noticeable.
Joe Bullock - 6.5/10
The one from the bench who brought most drive and power.
Danny Walker - 6/10
Brought some pace and urgency to proceedings although came up with a poor knock-on.
@ALooseWire
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