Leeds Rhinos and Bradford Bulls first impressions as injury concerns arise

Leeds Rhinos and Bradford Bulls had their latest pre-season outing ahead of the new Super League campaign, with the hosts winning Cameron Smith’s testimonial match 46-16.

Brodie Croft scored a second half hat-trick for the Rhinos, with Ash Handley bagging a brace while Smith, Ethan O’Neill and Presley Cassell all got in on the act too.

The Bulls responded with a try through Joe Keyes and two from Ethan Ryan. Here are our first impressions.

Expect the same Leeds Rhinos, the good and the bad!

This performance was a bit of everything that we saw from the Rhinos last year, for better and worse.

They were brilliant, awful, electrifying and baffling in pretty much equal measure, and that was a bit what they were like at times last year.

There were some fundamental errors, particularly in the first half as they failed to find touch with a penalty, made basic handling errors and wasted gilt-edge chances, with Lachie Miller inexplicably not passing with a two-on-one with the fulback.

Ryan Hall dropped a kickoff and then missed a tackle that saw the Bulls score, but he wasn’t the only one making such errors.

That said, they played some brilliant stuff too, with Croft’s second try, combining with Jake Connor, particularly magnificent. They were much better generally in the second half.

If they can be more clinical and cut out the daft stuff, they’ll be a dangerous side.

What about the Bulls?

Caught in two minds on this one. The Bulls were dogged and had a crack, particularly in the opening half. They didn’t back down and frustrated Leeds at times, and with the ball, they caused issues near Leeds’ line. Keyes scored a superb solo try and Ryan took his tries superbly.

But there were issues, too. They struggled in yardage, relying on help from the Rhinos to get up the field. On their own line, particularly in the closing stages when legs were getting heavy, they made some really poor defensive moves.

That said, they had a string of players on the sidelines. Caleb Aekins, Rowan Milnes, Andy Ackers, Ryan Sutton, Zac Fulton and Joe Mellor were among those who did not feature, and you’d expect all of them to be starters if they were fully fit. Ebon Scurr and Ed Chamberlain weren’t available either.

And on the fitness front, they only ran with six subs, compared to Leeds who had double that.

All being said, it’s probably too early to make any rash conclusions on the Bulls.

Injury concerns for Leeds

The Rhinos will be concerned about two injuries picked up in the contest. Both James McDonnell and Max Simpson limped off, something the Rhinos will absolutely have wanted to avoid.

Ash Handley and Chris Hankinson picked up knocks too, so that will overshadow the result and the occasion ultimately.

A word on Simpson, who in particular deserves a lot of sympathy after horrific injury luck so far in his career. He has suffered an ACL injury that has kept him out long-term and the way he was hitting the ground after suffering the injury in this game did not paint a good picture. Here’s hoping.