Leeds Rhinos 18 Hull KR 19

Drama in golden point extra time caught Leeds Rhinos out for a second time in 2023 as the Rhinos lost out 19-18 to Hull KR.

Having fought from 18-6 down to level the game with milestone tries for Ash Handley and Corey Johnson, the Rhinos were made to pay for unforced errors early in extra time before Robins debutant Brad Schneider kicked the crucial winner on his second attempt.

Leeds were able to welcome back Blake Austin and Justin Sangare to the team selection after Austin had served his one match suspension and Sangare had recovered from a foot injury. The remainder of the squad remained unchanged as Ash Handley made his 200^th career appearance on the wing. Hull KR had a number of former Leeds players in it’s ranks, including Ryan Hall, Matt Parcell and Jimmy Keinhorst, whilst Schneider made his debut alongside Rowan Milnes in the halves.

The game got off on a bad note when the Robins opened the scoring inside the first ten minutes. Camping themselves quickly on the Leeds line, a cut back off the wing from Shaun Kenny-Dowall was read by debutant Schneider, who had only one Leeds defender to beat before he grounded the ball.

Thankfully the Rhinos were able to hit back almost immediately through hooker Jarrod O’Connor. The introduction of Tom Holroyd in place of Mikolaj Oledzki, who had gone off for a HIA, set Leeds up as the prop barrelled his way towards the posts. Spotting a broken line in front of him, O’Connor had the piece of mind to dive out of dummy half and plant the ball down to level the score.

No sooner had O’Connor got one back for the Rhinos, Hull KR hit back as Tom Opacic pounced on a kick through from Schneider to get his eighth try of the season. Milnes added the two conversions to make the score 12-6 after 19 minutes.

More pressure from the Robins saw them get repeat sets on the Leeds line, but a drive from Rhys Kennedy gave the home side a breather as he was pulled up for obstruction. Down at the other end of the field, a half break by the returning Oledzki almost saw him get the ball away for O’Connor, but the try scorer couldn’t keep a hold of the ball under pressure from Ethan Ryan.

With half time looming, Louis Senior struck to put Leeds further behind. Possession had swung between both teams with neither getting close to scoring, but in a play that started with Schneider, Ryan and Opacic showed quick hands to shift the ball wide of Senior to score in the corner. A try before the break though; Nene Macdonald bounding free before passing inside to put Corey Johnson over for his first try in Leeds colours. Martin added the conversion to surpass 1,000 career points to close the scoreline to four points.

That lead was extended back out to six when Milnes added a penalty goal for a head high tackle on Ryan, but an action-packed second half delivered drama.

For most of the second half the Rhinos held the ball in the Hull KR half, off the back of an interception from Handley that saw the winger streak into opposition territory. Three consecutive sets on the Robins line finally saw the away side crack when Handley got his 100^th Super League try in style; the winger connecting with a Sezer kick in behind to ground it.

Tensions rose in the remainder of the half, with Martin coming the closest to snatching the win for Leeds but was judged to be held up. After Sezer missed a big opportunity as he fumbled a pass from Oledzki, it looked like the Rhinos were going to clinch it with Justin Sangare playing the ball under the posts. In the mele of bodies, the referee spotted a knock on that all but ended the second half at 18-18.

Heading into golden point, the Rhinos suffered a tough blow when Sangare’s knock on almost led to Schneider kicking a drop goal but it came off the underside of the crossbar. A knock on by Fusitu’a moments later though proved to be the fatal blow; Schneider kicking the deciding goal to end the game at 19-18.