It was a tough start for Rohan Smith’s tenure at Leeds Rhinos as his side was beaten 23-8 by Salford Red Devils at the AJ Bell Stadium.

The Challenge Cup break had allowed a number of players to return to the Rhinos side. David Fusitu’a, Richie Myler and Zane Tetevano were all included from the start, while Sam Walters made his first appearance after an injury in pre season. Zak Hardaker also ran out for his second debut for the club.

Leeds applied early pressure on the Salford line and earned three consecutive sets off the back of the Red Devils’ ill discipline. The visitors couldn’t make the pressure count and instead Salford turned the tables to open the scoring. After James Bentley had been penalised for offloading the ball after he was judge to be down by contact, the Red Devils marched up the field before spine players Ryan Brierley, Marc Sneyd and Brodie Croft combined to release Deon Cross through a stretched Leeds defence. With Ken Sio in support, the centre’s offload found the winger for the opening try of the game.

From the restart, Joe Burgess made it back to back tries to extend Salford’s lead. A short side play saw Sneyd and Harvey Livett put Tim Lafai through a gap and with the full back to beat, he gave the ball to Burgess to finish. Sneyd converted the latter to make the score 10-0.

Leeds soon responded through Ash Handley. A knock on by Ken Sio as Salford tried to clear their lines proved fatal as the Rhinos were allowed to camp on their opponent’s try line once again. A swift move left saw Kruise Leeming post Rhyse Martin through a hole, before the second rower managed to get the ball away for Handley to score in the corner.

Both sides had tries disallowed as the game began to heat up. First, new Salford signing Tyler Dupree was denied for a double  movement before Cam Smith made a great break through the Salford line but some desperate defence by Brierley prevented the loose forward from crossing the try line.

The home side then made the breakthrough once again before the break. With Salford closing in on the try line, a fifth tackle kick from Croft saw the ball ricocheted off the the post pads and Andy Ackers was there to dot it down. Sneyd converted to make the half time score 16-4.

Most of the second half was an arm wrestle as both sides tried to settle back into their rhythms. Handley had the best opportunity for the Rhinos, only for the final pass over the top to be called forward as the winger was denied his second of the afternoon.

Another misplaced pass from Hardaker, as the centre tried to find Fusitu’a on his outside, led to Salford adding more points to the score board. After the Red Devils’ forwards got him in range, Sneyd slotted a drop goal to extend the score to 17-4 with twelve minutes remaining. Then Brierley all but wrapped up the league points for Paul Rowley’s side, the full back supporting a break by Croft to score under the posts.

The Rhinos would finish with a flurry as Mikolaj Oledzki charged onto a drop off from Leeming to power his way to the line but it was too little too late as the home side took away the spoils.