Leeds Rhinos thumped Huddersfield Giants 54-0 at Headingley on a night when the Burrow family stole the show off the pitch, and Leeds did their former player justice on it. This was the MND Awareness Game and Rhinos, wearing their shirt with Doddie Weir’s tartan upon it, were on fire on an emotionally charged night.
Sky Sports nailed the coverage, as Rob Burrow’s children opened the show, threw grass on Barrie McDermott and then Rob himself delivered a speech on the pitch. There was barely a dry eye in the house by the time kick-off came around, with this day having a sense of celebration that the home side fed off.
Burrow continues to inspire us all, and the work people like him and Weir have done to raise the profile of MND, and raise money that can be put towards research. The Rhinos’ players clearly felt the impact of the evening in front of a bumper crowd, and they came out of the blocks with quality and intent.
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It took ten minutes for them to open the scoring after a splash of rain before kick-off caused a greasy ball but it came as Cameron Smith found Sam Walters mid-stride. The second rower used his momentum to break the line, before skipping around Giants' full-back Will Pryce to the delight of the crowd. Rhyse Martin found the conversation and the hosts were up and running.
It was as if that breakthrough opened the floodgates and Huddersfield buckled under the pressure. Richie Myler added the second after brilliant work from Blake Austin. He broke the line and fending off four Giants players before offloading into the unmarked hands of Myler.
The defeat to Wakefield Trinity last time out was long forgotten by the time Ash Handley took advantage of a brilliant break from Austin as he dazzled his way through the Huddersfield back line before setting up Handley who crossed for Leeds’ third.
Both of these teams were out of form coming into this but Leeds put their neighbours to the sword. David Fusitu’a was the spare man over on the right wing as Leeds flooded forward again and he added the flair with a diving finish in the corner. The game as a contest was over by half-time with the score at 22-0, but Rohan Smith’s men didn’t let up.
23-year-old James McDonnell was denied in the first half by the video ref but minutes after half-time he would get over as Jarrod O’Connor - fresh from signing his new deal - burst through and made the running before his teammates teed up McDonnell for a simple finish.
Innes Senior closed down Hanley after a long break but held him down to give his fellow defenders time to get back - and was shown a yellow card. And the Giants collapsed from that point.
Corey Johnson battled his way through Will Price and then produced a brilliant offload to Sam Walters to finish. Then they brought up 40 points as Martin added a try to his points tally. Once again Austin was key to the try as he injected pace in midfield before Martin got on the end of a kick which left the Giants defence stranded. It was a remarkable try that summed up the Rhinos performance.
Fusitu’a, after his nine-game absence, made it five tries for the season as he claimed a high kick in the corner and as Leeds moved to 48 points - the crowd sang the name of Burrow who was watching on in the stands. Martin got his second of the night as Leeds cracked 50. This was Rhinos best home performance of the season and they produced it on this truly special occasion.
A stunning performance on an emotional night. There’s only one Rob Burrow.
