Leeds Rhinos coach praises ref in Wakefield Trinity win as ruck change sparks 'front foot rugby' hope
Efforts to tidy up the ruck will play into Leeds Rhinos’ hands next year, according to assistant-coach Jamie Langley.u
Rhinos began their pre-season campaign with an 18-10 win over Wakefield Trinity in today’s (Friday) Wetherby Whaler Festive Challenge, despite a nine-four penalty count in the visitors’ favour. Referee Marcus Griffiths also awarded 13 set restarts, six of those to Leeds.
Langley admitted Rhinos are still adjusting to the way the ruck will be officiated in 2026, but praised Griffiths for his handling of the game and insisted when they get to grips with it, the new approach will suit the way Leeds like to play. Speaking in Rhinos’ post-match press conference, Langley said: “We knew after the Ashes rucks were going to be policed a lot differently, from conversations we’ve had with the officials.
“Marcus did a great job of carrying that out. There's a lot of work we need to do internally to tidy up our details around the rucks. It was a really good test for our defence and our resilience, Wakefield also. It is going to be really exciting for us as a unit, the way we play the game here at Leeds.
“I think it will suit our style of play, that power game, front-foot football. Speaking to Crofty and Jake afterwards [halves Brodie Croft and Jake Connor, who did not play today] they were licking their lips. If they are going to police the game that way going forward, it can only be a good thing.”
Rhinos’ young side scored three tries to Trinity’s two and Langley described the annual fixture as a “really good hit out”. He said: “We were really pleased with the outcome, a lot of young players got a first sense of what man’s rugby is about. We tried to give them that taste now, because at some point we are going to need those lads throughout the year. I thought they fronted up really well.”
He added: “It was good to get some minutes under the belts of the senior middles and young George Brown, it was his first opportunity at half-back to actually run the team and call the shots, the boys got behind him and they did a good job.”
Croft and Connor are the only experienced halves in Rhinos' full-time squad and Langley said 18-year-old Brown, who played the full game and was Leeds’ official man of the match, could “potentially” get some first team rugby in 2026. He said: We'll see how Crofty and Jake are. George won’t be far behind them.
“I thought Chris Hankinson, as well, did a good job at six for us. It has been noted he has got the number 14 jersey and he's going to be our ‘Mr Fixit’ this year, but we trust George. He has just come out of the academy and had a fantastic season.
“He’s a very confident young man, he backs himself and he can move on from his mistakes really quickly, which you need to do as a young half-back. He is very good physically; you think about the best halves in the country at the minute, like George Williams and Mikey Lewis and they are probably the best because they are the best physically.
“They are powerful and dynamic and George is very much in that vein. That’s why we are really excited to see how he progresses in the next few years.”