Leeds Rhinos fans confident of win at Wakefield Trinity as all agree Jake Connor is key man

Our panel felt it was a professional performance by a Leeds team lacking some key players and including several youngsters. Half-back Jack Connor was, again, the star of the show and our panel reckon he is crucial to Rhinos’ hopes of beating second-placed Trinity and moving a step closer to the Betfred Super League leaders’ shield.

TOM GOLDSWORTHY

Once again Leeds Rhinos produced a professional performance to put away Toulouse and continue to set the pace at the top of the Super League. It wasn’t our best performance in what was a very sto- start game at times, but we did well to quell any Toulouse attack and make our pressure count, scoring 46 unanswered points.

Toulouse have shown in the past few weeks they are certainly no pushovers, so Leeds do deserve credit for their attitude and effort throughout the game, making sure our standards didn’t slip and being ruthless when we had the ball.

Once again, Jake Connor stole the show. He was pulling the strings as usual and even managed to get on the scoreboard twice. His turnaround at Leeds is nothing short of remarkable and the best part about it is I don’t think we have seen the best of him yet. We are by no means a one-man team, but if we are to keep our place at the top of the league and potentially get back to Old Trafford, Connor is the key.

Possibly the only negative was Riley Lumb’s performance. I’m not sure what has happened behind the scenes, but he looks half the player he was last year. He had the ball in some promising areas of the pitch, but did not back himself on several occasions and looked nervous.

It’s like night and day between how he performed on Friday and how Alfie Edgell plays when he is called up to the team. I do think the future is bright for the young winger, but he needs to get that confidence back as soon as possible if he is to keep his spot in the side.

Looking ahead to Wakefield away and this is the biggest match of the season so far. Trinity have been on fire this season and deserve their spot in second place. Hopefully we will have some key men back for this match as it could go a long way in determining how our season ends. If we are to win any silverware this season, these high-pressure games are the ones we need to win and I do back the boys to silence our noisy neighbours.

DAVID MUHL

That was a very professional performance. The first half was a bit patchy, but Toulouse are a good team, with a big pack of forwards, who work hard. We upped our game in the second half and played some lovely entertaining rugby.

I thought our forwards were magnificent led by Tom Holroyd, who for me produced a man of the match performance. All the forwards played well; Presley Cassell produced a superb pass for Tom’s try and Mik Oledzki got a great try from a typical barnstorming run. Kallum Watkins, making his 350th Super League appearance, put in his usual shift and James McDonnell continued his try-scoring run.

Jake Connor had another great game - he’s playing so well you start taking it for granted he will be involved in everything. Brodie Croft got man of the match from the sponsors and he had a good game, scoring yet another try. I’ll be surprised if he doesn’t overtake Maika Sivo at the top of the try scoring charts. I can’t remember the last time Leeds had the first- and second-highest try scorers.

We had quite a few youngsters on show and all of them played well. Zak Lloyd came on for the last 20 minutes and looked impressive, he made some big tackles and took the ball in well. There was a crowd of over 15,200 which, considering the lack of away support, was brilliant. The club are doing a wonderful job of promoting games; everyone from the customer experience team, the foundation staff and indeed the players are playing an important part at the moment and should rightly be very proud.

The fans are also playing their part getting behind the team and making Headingley a fortress. Hopefully we can go through the season undefeated there. We have a couple of difficult fixtures coming up at home, against Leigh and Wigan, but if we play to our potential, these are both winnable.

KATIE MARCZYNSKI

We were far more impressive this week and very clinical, albeit against a somewhat depleted Toulouse. I’m running out of superlatives to describe Jake Connor after another star performance last Friday. Something major will have to happen for him not to be leading the way for Man of Steel at the end of the season.

Our recent injury worries have been a chance for our young talent to shine and they have certainly done that. Presley Cassell had another great game and Zak Lloyd looked very at home making his first-team debut. There's a lot of talk about how good Wigan are at developing their youth, which they are, but the future looks bright at Rhinos HQ.

This week's game is one I’ve been worrying about for a while and one that could define our season. Wakefield is a fantastic ground to go to, but our recent record there is not great. We will need to be very strong defensively - and much better than when we faced them in the Cup earlier this year - to be in with a chance of winning.

With any luck, we’ll have Ash Handley back and possibly Danny Levi. It'll be a tough one, but one we need to win if we want to be taken seriously as potential Grand Finalists.

IAIN SHARP

Toulouse came to Headingley with a defence that was too-loose and ended up having to make the long (Toulouse Lau)trec home again afterwards with nothing to show for their efforts.

After saying a few weeks ago that Leeds were going well and had avoided injuries, the back line seems to be forming an orderly queue at the treatment room. One can only assume they were selected by putting the names of those players who were fit on slips of paper and drawing them out of a box. I understand a similar system is employed on a regular basis to pick the man of the match award.

People may think writing this bit gets easier. This week, with the absence of Maika Sivo through injury, it was a little more straightforward, however I am really having to scrape Roget’s Thesaurus to come up with yet more superlatives for the performances of Jake Connor.

Toulouse is famous for a few minor composers, but I bet few ‘played them like a fiddle’ like Connor did on Friday night. He was ably supported by the likes of Lachie Miller and Brodie Croft, as well as a promising debut from Zak Lloyd.

Another stiff test coming at Wakefield on Friday night, but the mark of a great side will be to go there and win it, despite our current injury problems.

BECKY OXLEY

I was uncertain about what to anticipate in the match against Toulouse. With several players unavailable and Toulouse also facing challenges with their team, I thought this might create a more balanced contest. However, finishing the game with a clean sheet demonstrated the quality of our performance for the full 80 minutes.

Jake Connor delivered another outstanding performance. He was instrumental in maintaining the flow of the game and once again showcased his exceptional skills, reinforcing his status as the current Man of Steel and making a strong case for retaining that title this season.

The term resilience has been frequently mentioned this season and we have certainly embodied that in our recent matches. Achieving a nil scoreline against an opponent is no small accomplishment, particularly with many younger players on the field. Against Toulouse, we exhibited true grit and determination with the younger players adapting well alongside the more experienced ones who contributed to maintaining cohesion. It’s encouraging to witness this development and I believe it reflects the efforts Brad Arthur has been making, especially as we approach the business end of the season.

This week we face Wakefield on their home turf. They have been performing exceptionally well this season and it will undoubtedly be a challenging encounter. I anticipate a closely contested match, but I am hopeful we will secure the two points by the end of the 80 minutes.