Good hit out. Good things: Starting spine looked good. Impressed with Patton. Fitness seemed much better. Wallace very good and a decent debut from Jonson.
Bad things: Line speed was poor at times, too many penalties, Gill missed a couple of important tackles. I coundn't see why Flanagan Jr's try was chalked off.

Rhinos 24-10 Bulls

I felt that we managed the early pressure well. I don't think we touched the ball for the first 10-15 mins of the game and did an awful lot of defending right at the start of the game. I felt that the amount of defending we did sapped some of our energy and creativity. When Lawford came on we looked better and played some good attacking rugby near their line. The GF Jr try was chalked off due to a double knock on, which was questionable. The main positive for me is that we didn't buckle and concede 30/40+ points. Leeds had a lot of good field position and could have scored plenty of points but we stood strong defensively. The only lapse was Gill for the second half try.

My big takeaway was how many unforced errors we made. During the first half we would get ourselves into a great position and then drop the ball or throw a forward pass. I also felt that our discipline was poor in certain periods of the game. We also failed to find touch and conceded a short kick off which didn't help the amount of errors we made.

Overall, a good hit out and a real test for the squad. We have things to work on ahead of the opening round next week against Whitehaven. The only injury concern was AJ Wallace who hobbled off during the final 10 mins of the game.

Good to see they kept going till the end fitness seems a hell of a lot better they sensed to be able to have a go at the line too whoever was in the halves spot

Early days but it was nice to see a change from taking it up the middle, I thought we played well in a very competitive match.Did any one else have trouble getting into the ground, I bought my tickets in November from the Bulls shop and they wouldn't scan at the turnstile. The steward said they don't look right and told me to go all the way round to the ticket office. I told them the tale and they said where did you get these from. It turns out they sold these before the proper tickets were sent from Leeds. I then had to buy 2 more tickets to get in to see the game. So during this week I shall be paying a visit to Odsal to try and sort it out.

Good things - We are much fitter than last year and showed better attitude too. If we'd turned up with the side we had at the back end of last year we'd have gone down by 50+. We tried to play some expansive rugby and asked more questions than the "kick to Gill". The goal line defence was great. Thought the pack did well, particularly Wallace and Lilley. Holmes again looked the part.

Not so good - We dropped the ball too much which ruined a lot of opportunities to apply pressure. That may have been down to the many changes to the spine that we made as the game went on but we need to be tidier with ball in hand. Ill discipline was a problem at times some for technical stuff, other stuff like high tackles didn't help either. Right edge defence was a bit shaky at times. Patton and Gill didn't combine too well. Think Flanagan Jnr needs to mature a bit as if he reacts to mickey taking from the opposition like that again (he chucked the ball at a Leeds player after he'd knocked on) he will be targeted in every game he plays.

Overall we did alright and Leeds showed they have a few players that might help us out this season if needed. I thought that Tindall in particular would make a great addition.

What's that saying?

The apple doesn't fall far from the tree

Interesting comments made by Dunning in the post-match press conference regarding this incident. He stated that the club have introduced fines for players that give away penalties whilst in possession of the ball. He also mentioned that GF Jr will be fined for his reaction and throwing of the ball at the Leeds player. Very good step made by MD to try and improve the culture of the players and club.

I think there's far too much talk about young Flanagan anyway. He's got a lot to learn. Think the club's social media would do well to focus on some other players for a change and take him out of the limelight.