Leeds Rhinos brushed off a shaky start to score six unanswered tries at the Salford Community Stadium in a convincing 32-6 victory over Salford Red Devils.

Two tries from Riley Lumb, as well as a standout performance for Jake Connor, saw the Rhinos bounce back from conceding inside two minutes to take home their first win of the new season, as Morgan Gannon, Ash Handley, James Bentley and Ryan Hall all opened their accounts for the season.

Brad Arthur was forced into one change from round one as Cooper Jenkins made his club debut at prop instead of Mikolaj Oledzki, who was ruled out as he completes his return to play protocol after suffering a concussion last weekend. One change on the bench saw Jarrod O’Connor return to action after suffering an injury on Boxing Day as he joined Sam Lisone, Tom Holroyd and Morgan Gannon among the substitutes.

After their new ownership was approved earlier in the week, Salford named a fully changed matchday 17, which included five former Leeds players. French international Justin Sangare made his club debut after moving to the Red Devils during the off-season, along with Chris Hill and Esan Marsters.

Early pressure was applied on the Rhinos when Marc Sneyd kicked a 40/20 on the home side’s opening set to give the Red Devils a chance to test Leeds’ defence. Four plays into the set, Sneyd posted Kallum Watkins through a gap for the former Leeds man to score the opening points of the afternoon.

Startled by the early score, Leeds quickly turned the tables by forcing consecutive sets on the Red Devils try line. Brodie Croft’s kick in behind almost set up Jake Connor for a try, but the Leeds full back was taken out by Jayden Nikorima when contesting the ball. Riley Lumb also tested Salford’s edge as he rose to take a kick from Jake Connor, only for Nene Macdonald to intervene and force a drop out.

Keeping the pressure on, a set restart saw Arthur’s side make their possession count as a move across the line was executed by Croft and Connor, who kicked in behind and Lumb was there to catch and ground the ball to get important points on the board for the visitors.

Paul Rowley’s side looked to reply to Leeds’ try as a penalty invited Sneyd to exploit space behind the Leeds line with a chip and chase, but Connor kept his cool to see the ball go over the dead ball line.  Shifting up to the other end of the field, Leeds made sure their chance brought home points; Morgan Gannon forced his way to the line with a stretching effort. Connor converted his second attempt of the game to make the score 10-6.

Leeds’ attack continued to fire as they created breathing room on the scoreboard with half time in sight. Lumb was the beneficiary for his second try of the game, thanks to good work from Connor and his centre partner Ash Handley as the youngster dotted down in the corner.

Before the half could close out though, concern for the Rhinos saw Brodie Croft leave the field of play after a the half back suffered contact to the head. Leeds had played the majority of the first half in the absence of Matt Frawley, after the half back suffered a cut on his hand when attempting to ankle tap Ryan Brierley on a break, but he was forced back into the action as the Rhinos finished the game without the talismanic Croft. In the aftermath, Salford’s Joe Shorrocks was sent to the sin bin for forceful and dangerous high contact and Connor opted to take the penalty goal to give Leeds a ten-point advantage at the break.

Leeds were handed a boost at the break as 18^th man Alfie Edgell was elevated onto the bench after Croft’s injury at the end of the first half, and Arthur’s side looked to start on the front foot as Frawley was brought up short on a good attacking set for the visitors. Salford’s Sneyd responded with his second 40/20 of the game to set the Red Devils up for an attack, but Leeds’ extra man came in handy as James McDonnell reclaimed the ball for the Rhinos after a good defensive set.

More luck saw a knock on by Handley overturned to a ball steal in the first successful Captain’s Challenge of the season, and off the back of the decision, more good work from Connor almost saw Gannon find his second of the game only for desperate defence to stop the back rower.

Even though Shorrocks returned into the action to take the Red Devils back up to 13 players, Leeds were in full flow as Handley added their fourth try of the afternoon. Off the back of a wild offload from Macdonald, Leeds progressed towards the try line, before Harry Newman went searching towards the centre of the field and stabbed a kick for Handley, who showed off his football skills to gather the ball and score by the posts. Despite being given as a no-try on the field, video referee Liam Rush gave the try the green light from upstairs to give the Leeds centre his first try of the season.

Even though they were behind on the scoreboard, Salford still showed spirit coming forward. Macdonald made amends for his error in the lead-up to the Handley try as he broke free again, but his pass for Nikorima saw the half back get caught by Hall and Lumb. Even with the field position advantage, Hill fumbled the ball to end a promising attack. Esan Marsters also put Brierley through for a half break, but an error by Shorrocks from the dummy half saw the Salford man give the ball away to James Bentley, and the second rower sealed a Rhinos win with an hour played.

As expected from a Paul Rowley side, the Red Devils continued to throw challenges at the Rhinos as they broke out of their half and came up with smart plays, courtesy of Sneyd and Brierley, to keep Leeds’ defence on their toes, but to no reward as points kept eluding them. Leeds couldn’t stop scoring on the other hand as Ryan Hall also opened his account for the season as he walked over in the corner for his first Leeds try since 11^th August 2018. Connor converted from the sideline to take the score to 32-6 with nine minutes left.

Late drama saw Leeds’ calls for a penalty try quashed as Ryan Hall looked to be impeded by Deon Cross, but referee Moore still gave the penalty in favour of the visitors. Connor couldn’t convert the attempt from out wide, but nevertheless, the Rhinos took away a comprehensive first win of the 2025 season.

Teams:

Red Devils

1. Ryan Brierley, 3. Nene Macdonald, 17. Esan Marsters, 4. Tim Lafai, 5. Deon Cross, 6. Jayden Nikorima, 7. Marc Sneyd, 8. Brad Singleton, 14. Chris Atkin, 10. Chris Hill, 15. Shane Wright, 12. Kallum Watkins (C), 13. Joe Shorrocks

Subs: 23. Chris Hankinson, 19. Justin Sangare, 22. Matthew Foster, 18. Jack Ormondroyd (18^th Man – Tiaki Chan)

Tries: Watkins (2)

Goals: Sneyd 1/1

Rhinos

18. Jake Connor, 23. Riley Lumb, 4. Ash Handley (CC), 3. Harry Newman, 5. Ryan Hall, 6. Brodie Croft, 7. Matt Frawley, 10. Keenan Palasia, 9. Andy Ackers, 17. Cooper Jenkins, 11. James Bentley, 12. James McDonnell, 13. Cameron Smith (CC)

Subs: 14. Jarrod O’Connor, 15. Sam Lisone, 19. Tom Holroyd, 16. Morgan Gannon (18^th Man – Alfie Edgell)

Tries: Lumb (18, 32), Gannon (24), Handley (49), Bentley (59), Hall (71)

Goals: Connor 4/8