An inspired second half performance wasn’t enough for Leeds Rhinos in round seventeen of the Betfred Super League as they lost out 30-18 to Warrington Wolves at the Halliwell Jones Stadium.

A first Rhinos try for Ned McCormack as well as scores from Lachie Miller and Paul Momirovski pushed the Wolves in the second half, after the home side ran out to a four try lead in the first forty minutes.

Chev Walker took charge of his last game of the season as interim head coach as  Brad Arthur arrived in the country earlier in the day. For the Warrington test, Walker made three changes to his Leeds side, bringing young talents Jack Sinfield and Ned McCormack in for Matt Frawley and Harry Newman. Sinfield played his first game since the defeat away to Catalans in May, whilst McCormack had a good performance in the recent home win over Leigh.

Loanee Sam Eseh moved from the bench to start alongside Mikolaj Oledzki, meaning Mickael Goudemand was named amongst the substitutes which included Alfie Edgell, Andy Ackers and Sam Lisone. The average age of the squad was exactly 25.

A disappointing start saw Warrington establish an early advantage inside of six minutes. Off the back of a Rhyse Martin knock on, the Wolves made their possession count as the returning Matty Ashton collected George Williams’ kick ahead to score the opening try. Matt Dufty made it back-to-back tries shortly after as the full back benefitted from a break from Danny Walker to double the Warrington advantage.

Rocked by the two tries, the Rhinos settled the ship as they worked their way into the contest. A relieving penalty for a dangerous tackle on James McDonnell gave Leeds the break they needed, and off the back of it, the away side was able to record their first points. McDonnell and Oledzki both came up short of the line on powerful drives, but with Brodie Croft pulling the strings, the half back’s kick to the corner was perfectly weighted for David Fusitu’a to take the ball above Ashton and plant it down for a well worked try. Martin couldn’t convert as the score remained 12-4.

Now it was Warrington’s turn to open the door to Leeds as referee Jack Smith penalised Walker for stripping the ball and dissent in quick succession. Despite Croft being unable to find a Leeds man with his kick on the last, good defence caught Ashton in goal to force a repeat set, but a knock on from Jarrod O’Connor soon after gave possession away close to the try line.

The arm wrestle swung in favour of the home side as Warrington pushed back in the closing stages of the half. Back to back sets close to the Leeds try line gave Sam Burgess’ side hope as Williams forced Fusitu’a back in-goal for a drop out, but resolute defence from Leeds kept the Wolves at bay; Williams came closest to scoring, only to be denied by Croft and McDonnell.

The in-form Dufty managed to find a hole to score his second and the Wolves’ third of the game with five minutes to go, before Roderick Tai opened up a 20-point margin as Dufty’s kick unfortunately bounced off Jack Sinfield and into the arms of the PNG international. Stefan Ratchford converted all four conversions to make the half time score 24-4 at the break.

Coming out for the second half, Leeds needed an encouraging start and Lachie Miller delivered a much-needed try. Good work on the last tackle from Croft and Sinfield forced back to back drop outs from the Wolves, and with the home side backed up by their own try line, Sinfield fed Miller through a gap for the full back to get his third try of the season.

The Wolves took a hit as Williams was sent to the sin bin for a high shot on Andy Ackers ten minutes into the half, and the Rhinos quickly responded by attacking the space where the half back would have been to put Ned McCormack through to score his first senior try in Leeds colours. Martin couldn’t convert as the score moved to 24-14.

The home crowd became restless as Leeds continued to take confidence from their second half performance, but Tom Whitehead opened up Warrington’s advantage again as he barrelled his way over from short range on the hour mark. The video referee Tom Grant took a lengthy look at the call but didn’t have enough evidence to overturn the on-field decision.

Croft threatened to score a length of the field effort in one of the Rhinos’ best chances in the final 15 minutes, only for the half back to be caught by chasing Wolves defenders. Williams and Walker counteracted for the Wolves, only for a poor final pass to turn the ball over, but Leeds saved some tricks for late on. A clever kick ahead by Handley was latched onto by Miller, who then fed Lisone but the prop couldn’t make it to the line, but Warrington found themselves in trouble with the referee as Ashton was sin binned for holding down the Leeds prop. Using the extra man to their advantage again, quick hands got the ball out to Paul Momirovski, who did well to promote the ball over the line to close the scoreline to 30-18 at full time.

Match Facts

Wolves

1. Matt Dufty, 33. Arron Lindop, 14. Roderick Tai, 4. Stefan Ratchford, 5. Matty Ashton, 6. George Williams, 7. Josh Drinkwater, 8. James Harrison, 9. Danny Walker, 10. Paul Vaughan, 13. Matty Nicholson, 28. Adam Holroyd, 11. Ben Currie

Subs: 16. Zane Musgrove, 17. Jordy Crowther, 32. Sam Powell, 29. Tom Whitehead (18^th Man – 38. Cai Taylor-Wray)

Tries: Ashton (1), Dufty (4, 35), Tai (39), Whitehead (60)

Goals: Ratchford 5/5

Sin Bin: Williams (50) – Dangerous contact with the head, Ashton (74) – Professional foul.

Rhinos

1. Lachie Miller, 2. David Fusitu’a, 4. Paul Momirovski, 31. Ned McCormack, 5. Ash Handley, 6. Brodie Croft, 21. Jack Sinfield, 8. Mikolaj Oledzki, 14. Jarrod O’Connor, 36. Sam Eseh, 16. James McDonnell, 12. Rhyse Martin, 13. Cameron Smith

Subs: 9. Andy Ackers, 15. Sam Lisone, 18. Mickael Goudemand, 29. Alfie Edgell  (18^th Man – 30. Tom Nicholson-Watton)

Tries: Fusitu’a (18), Miller (44), McCormack (51), Momirovski (75)

Goals: Martin 1/4