Leeds Rhinos U18s 16 Warrington Wolves U18s 16

Leeds Rhinos Under-18s Academy season came to an unfortunate end in the final Top Four Qualifier of the season as a 16-16 draw against Warrington Wolves at Stanningley wasn’t enough for the Rhinos to qualify for this year’s Academy Grand Final.

Leeds came into the game in third place in the league table behind the Wolves, who had the advantage of a better points difference after a demolition of Castleford Tigers a week ago. Having both been involved in a close encounter earlier in the season at Victoria Park, fans were treated to a brilliantly gritty affair again in the return fixture – especially with the prize of a place in this year’s finale at stake.

 Warrington enjoyed most of the early exchanges as they backed Leeds by their own try line inside the opening minutes. Breaks by Ethan Holt and Reece Dodd to place the Wolves in scoring range both saw the sets end with Harvey Butterworth sweeping up grubber kicks in behind from Jack Pendlebury as the Rhinos survived. Leeds also had answers when Bailey Lund tried to force his way over from range, as well as when Cameron Cooper kicked ahead to chase himself, but White’s confident play at full back held Leeds’ defence strong.

Almost against the run of play, White found the opening points for the home side on the 18-minute mark with a brilliant solo effort. Warrington had looked to diffuse the Rhinos attack when Holt forced Seth Marchant into flinging the ball on the ground, but White didn’t let the play die as the full back jinked and darted through a Wolves tackler to break into the backfield, where there was nothing Lund could do to stop his opposite number from scoring under the posts.

Leeds should have had a second score shortly after the White try as a break by Jacob Tooala down the sideline ended as Ellis Livesey managed to get a hand on the pass inside for Liam Watson, who would have scored a certain try with a clean catch. The Wolves managed to survive the pressure on both the scoreboard and the pitch, and a relieving 20/40 kick from Leyton Haddrell started to steer the competition back in favour of the away side. Pendlebury was expertly held up as the half back tried a drive for the line himself, before a quick shift to the right side caused Leeds’ White to intervene as Dobbs and Jack Fallon combined for what looked to be another certain try. Calmly shifting the ball back to the opposite side of the field, Livesey’s kick sat up in the in-goal area in time for Cooper to plant it down before the dead ball line. Tommy Rhodes was unable to convert from the sideline to keep Leeds in a 6-4 lead.

With half-time minutes away, a tip-tackle on Alfie Steel prompted Marchant to call on the kicking tee, and the half-back stepped up to convert as the Rhinos took a four-point lead into the break. Coming out for the second half, another Marchant penalty goal gave Leeds a firmer grip of the contest with the score at 10-4.

Much like the first half, another quick Warrington shift proved to be Leeds’ downfall as Regan Parkman’s try cancelled out the Rhinos’ lead. Lund had caught both Kai Irvine and Tooala on the back foot as the full back made the initial break for the Wolves, before another shift through the hands saw Rhodes fire a long-range pass out for winger Parkman to stroll in untouched. Rhodes’ additional conversion locked the score up at 10-all with 50 minutes played.

A gruelling contest continued as neither side was prepared to give the other an edge in what was a fantastic display of Academy rugby overall. To their credit, the Rhinos in particular were going through the wars after losing Evan Jones to a leg injury in the first half as Scott Walker’s failed HIA took Leeds down to only two substitutes for the remainder of the half and forced players to move around the pack. Despite this, Chev Walker’s side continued to fight and turn up for each other as an Ed Williams break looked to produce points for Warrington, only for the Rhinos to rally and force a turnover.

Another Wolves chance went begging when Rhodes and Haddrell combined on a break, but Marchant and Watson’s disciplined defence stopped Lund from turning the chance into points. The warning signs were there for the away side, who finally made a breakthrough on the scoreboard when Isaac Holdsworth ran a strong line to crash over and give Daniel Hill’s side their first lead of the match with ten minutes to go.

Eager not to go down without a fight, a remarkable Leeds reply put the game back level to set up a grandstand finish. Holdsworth had been unable to latch onto Rhodes’ grubber kick as the Rhinos received a seven-tackle set, and good carries from Watson, Bailey Hardy, Tooala and Robin Smith took Leeds 100 metres to set the home side up on the Wolves try line. Irvine had tried to dance his way over, but the next play saw White chime into the attack to put Max Rhodes into a huge gap to get an important try with five minutes left.

Marchant’s cool conversion tied the game up again, but advantage still sat with the Wolves due to their superior points difference in the league table. Despite Leeds’ best efforts in the final moments, White was forced out of play taking a high, short kick from Pendlebury, which inevitably ended the match as the Wolves progressed through to face Wigan in the Academy Grand Final.

Teams

Rhinos

1. Wade White 2. Tom Richardson, 3. Sonny Hetherington, 4. Jacob Tooala, 5. Liam Watson, 6. Seth Marchant, 7. Kai Irvine, 8. Robin Smith, 9. Harvey Butterworth, 10. Evan Jones, 11. Alfie Steel, 12. Max Rhodes, 13. Brennan Townend

Subs: 14. Jack Mears, 15. Scott Walker, 16. Bailey Hardy, 17. Junior Rowse (18^th Man – Noah Lunn)

Tries: White (18), Rhodes (75)

Goals: Marchant 2/2

Penalty Goals: Marchant 2/2

Wolves

1. Bailey Lund, 2. Jack Fallon, 22. Reece Dobbs, 4. Cameron Cooper, 5. Regan Parkman, 6. Tommy Rhodes, 7. Jack Pendlebury, 8. Isaac Holdsworth, 9. Leyton Haddrell, 10. Zak Brand, 11. Jamie Coop, 12. Oliver Bishop, 13. Ethan Holt

Subs: 20. Ellis Livesey, 18. Brady Bottomley, 16. Tom Marshall, 17. Ed Williams (18^th Man – Oliver Orgill)

Tries: Cooper (29), Parkman (50), Holdsworth (70)

Goals: Rhodes 2/3