Rohan Smith on Leeds Rhinos yellow and red cards in St Helens defeat
Photo: John Rushworth/SWpix
Leeds Rhinos forward Zane Tetevano was sent off in Thursday’s 42-12 defeat at St Helens, whilst forwards James Bentley and Bodene Thompson were sin-binned.
Marquee man Tetevano was sent off in the 76th minute for a high tackle on former Rhino Konrad Hurrell, in addition to the earlier sin-binning of Thompson.
And Smith’s side finished with 11 men when former St Helens forward James Bentley, who was fresh from completing a third ban of the season, was given a yellow card for purposely delaying a play-the-ball.
“I haven’t seen the replays on them,” Smith said. “I thought Bodene got caught off balance and I don’t know whether he made first contact with his hands or not.
“The tackle on Hurrell looked spectacular but again I haven’t seen the point of contact on the replay. We had a bunch of positional chances so at various times I was trying to organise our defensive line so I was chatting to our bench and trying to use that moment to make an interchange.
“I don’t know what happened with Bentley. I don’t know what it was for, I didn’t see it. Again, I was looking at our players and the next minute he’s in the bin. I can’t fix it once he’s been binned anyway.”
When Smith was told what Bentley was sin-binned for, he replied: “That type of play is never advisable at any scoreline at any venue.”
Leeds Rhinos boss pleased with Harry Newman
England World Cup hopeful Harry Newman put in an impressive performance for the Rhinos. The young centre scored a sensational try in the first half.
“He showed what he can do,” Smith said. “He attacked the ball and played with high energy.
“It was an impressive first 80 minute-performance of the season from him, a positive.
“There were plenty of things I liked. We came to play and had a good crack. We stretched them a few times early in the piece.
“At half-time I didn’t think the score was reflective. I thought at 20-12 it was game on but we lost a bit of composure at the back end.”
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