'We're now world champs': Leeds Rhinos Jury review win at St Helens, hail Sezer and make Trinity prediction

With tongues firmly in cheeks, some of them reckon the victory at St Helens makes Rhinos the new World Club champions.

All are agreed it was a much better performance, with Aidan Sezer and Rhyse Martin coming in for particular praise and hopes are high for another two points at home to Wakefield Trinity on Friday.

DAVID MUHL

Well what can I say? No one, not even the most fervent Rhinos fans, really expected Leeds to put one over on Saints and spoil their party.

For once, we rode our luck and got the rub of the green. I thought Aidan Sezer and Blake Austin had their best game for some time. Sezer ran more with the ball than he has over the last dozen or so matches. I’m not sure that it’s a coincidence they had their best game while Kruise Leeming wasn’t playing. I’m afraid Kruise is not firing at the moment and Jarrod O’Connor seems to be a better fit at hooker.

It was great to see Rhyse Martin back on form. He took his two tries superbly and one area that seems to go under the radar with Rhyse is his excellent defensive work. Although Justin Sangare made one mistake which could have been costly, he is great fun to watch and plays with great enthusiasm. Leeds showed once again that they have real pace in Ash Handley and Nene Macdonald and last Friday used this well.

Having said all this, there were still areas of concern. Leeds have had a problem for years of losing concentration at play-the-balls near the line and again conceded a soft try.

Looking forward to this week against Wakefield, we must build on Friday night’s win and ensure we beat them convincingly.

Although they haven’t yet won a game Wakey will not be a pushover. They always raise their game against their big city neighbours and will be hurting after their poor start to the season.

One final point, I have to say what a cool guy our coach is. How he handled the poor behaviour from the Saints fans at the end was a credit to himself and the club.

BECKY OXLEY

I bet the majority would have said we would get beaten on Friday night away to the current Super League and World Club champions, but I was optimistic it was going to be third time lucky for this season.

The game was backward and forwards on the score sheet and up-to half time it was anyone’s.

Saints came out in the second half and scored, but then it was 30 minutes of the Rhinos scoring.

With 10 minutes to go it was 24-24 and it was Konrad Hurrell’s red card in the 78th minute that led to us landing the drop goal which meant we got our first win of the season. There were a lot more breaks in the game and there were a lot of long-range efforts. I am smiling and we have got the season going a lot earlier than last year, so let’s see where we go now.

Beating the Saints is always a sweet win considering it’s a hard nut to crack. Next up, Wakefield at home on Friday. Let’s see if we can continue the winning streak.

SAM BROCKSOM

Well, what a way to get your first win of the season - beating the world champions in their own backyard, ending our losing streak to Saints and all while doing it in the most dramatic style possible.

I don’t think any player had a bad game; I will give credit to Aidan Sezer after slating him the past two weeks: the kick for Rhyse Martin’s first try was sublime. Credit to James McDonnell too who, on debut, did not look out of place.

Despite James Bentley reportedly now fit, I don’t see any player that deserves to be dropped. The injury to Kruise Leeming will free up a bench spot, but I do not see Bentley, or Sam Lisone, returning to the starting lineup.

Looking ahead to Wakefield, we must back up last week’s performance with another win here. Trinity are yet to win this season, but with it being a local rivalry, both sides need to be on top form. They may have beaten us on Boxing Day, but now, when it matters, I see nothing other than a Rhinos win.

IAIN SHARP

After Leeds’ flaky form in the first two games of the season, the trip to the newly-crowned World Club Champions had the tipsters all backing a home win.

For those of us seasoned watchers of blue and amber, it’s that time when the form book least expects it that Leeds will often be at their best.

More pieces of the Rohan Smith jigsaw are falling into place, as bodies return from injury. It shows, when the team is fully fit, we have the firepower to match the best in the world and it is great to see young, hungry players like Sam Walters and many others stepping up to the plate.

The game wasn’t without controversy on and off the pitch, as well as demonstrating the sad decline in the teaching of anatomy in the Merseyside area, given the local’s apparent difficulty comparing shoulders to jaws.

Doesn’t the defeat of the World Club Champions mean that the title is now transferred to Leeds (I don’t think it works like that - ED) until we are next beaten? So our first ‘defence’ is against Wakefield this coming Friday.

TOM GOLDSWORTHY

It’s official, Leeds Rhinos are the best team on earth after defeating world champions St Helens in a well fought match - a result not many saw coming.

All my previous criticisms of the team seemed to be somewhat answered in this game. Big name players stepped up and there was a real show of intensity, organisation and fight from everyone involved.

Aidan Sezer looked like a different player compared to last week and he completely ran the show in the halves.

Rhyse Martin also looked to be back at his best with two well-taken tries and an outstanding 139 metres made.

I thought Nene Macdonald and Ash Handley had brilliant games at centre, something we saw glimpses of in the previous game against Hull.

Adding Harry Newman to this improving backline means we will have some serious firepower for the rest of the season.

While a lot of the focus post-game has been around the referee, I do believe Saints’ ill-discipline cost them the game. Whether or not you thought Sam Walters’ tackle was a shoulder charge (it definitely wasn’t), two sin-bins for late tackles and Konrad Hurrell’s disgusting shot on Richie Myler gave Leeds the platform to go on and get their first win of the season.

Looking ahead to the Wakefield game, Rhinos have to use this new found confidence to kick start their season.

I think alarm bells will start ringing if we don’t defeat a team who haven’t scored in their previous two games, especially after we’ve seen how good this team can be.

JOSH JACKSON

The 2023 season has already surprised us Rhinos fans, thanks to Friday night's win at St Helens.

Going into this game it seemed like we needed a miracle to happen for us to win and, amazingly, we got that miracle.

Although it wasn’t pretty at times and we made life hard for ourselves with silly errors, we hung in there and got the job done. Rohan Smith got it right by attacking more out wide, taking the ball away from the middle where St Helens are very dominant.

We showed aggression in the right moments and kept our discipline intact when St Helens didn’t.

There were impressive performances from many, but Nene Macdonald, Sam Walters and Aidan Sezer stood out for me.

Now is time to push on from that result and put another good performance in on Friday against a struggling Wakefield team.

With hopefully James Bentley - and possibly a few others - back we need to get some points on the board and get an impressive scoreline.