I agree, Smith looks larger than I remembered him, however he wasn't as slow as people seem to make out. Watch Chico's try again & you'll see Smith starts chasing back some distance away, makes ground and isn't that far from catching Segeyaro.

...however Segeyaro isn't the fastest hooker out there.

Dawson and one other (can't remember who) did catch him on another occasion....and quite easily too

I agree with most of these comments, I thought Lee Smith had a poor game today(yesterday) and was surprised when he was chosen ahead of Greg also would like to have seen Hood given a game ahead of Burns.

Fair due to Leeds they played with some great Intensity

It was already mission accomplished for Leigh. When it mattered, McNally was chosen ahead of Smith every time. Last night was a dead rubber, so fringe players were given an opportunity.

Is that Chico or Cheeky ? sarcastic waving to chasing players has a habit of coming back to haunt you! I look forward to the future!!

Very True Kirky, I remember Ryan Field house doing it against us at the Shay, he was reminded of it a few times after we beat them on a regular basis.

A bit like Acton's infuriating habit of patting opposition players on the head, when they have made an error. Totally disrespectful.

Bit like Barry Sheen giving the V's to Roberts as He passed only to be overtaken a lap later!

Personally (I watched it today on Sky+) I don't think one Leigh player had their very best game & overall Leigh played poor.

HH & Dayne did a good enough job although Dayne looked a little overly wound up for the game.
Hock got caught up in the niggle as did Travis Burns, the ref had no option with most decisions against us as we were our own worst enemies & he got most things right.

Lee Smith didn't have his finest hour but I think he was selected for his better defensive ability. A few years back he would have chased Segeyaro down easily & buried him but did look a little portly & slow last night, in fact I said this to the Mrs.

Leeds played well enough to control the game without being anything great, the penalty count, lack of respect for the ball (not clamping the ball in the tackle & allowing multiple offloads) killed us, lots of metres made on offloads by Rhinos, lots of metres lost on penalties from Leigh.

Yeah it was a nothing game but this was the minimum level *shown by Leeds* that Leigh have to reach in 2017 to be competitive.

Hope all the lads & Derek/Jukesy enjoy Portugal & get refreshed & fit for SL 2017.

Hope that the signing being announced Sunday is NOT Kevin Penny *POOP*.

The reasons highlighted plus:- Missed tackles Leeds 18, Leigh [size=15046[/size (from Leeds Rhinos Match statistics) That's a lot of missed tackles!

Had this match been a must win game, Leigh's approach would have been different. Smith would not have been selected for starters. Paterson would have played. Hood would have retained his place. It was a nice touch from the coaching staff, to let Tonga play alongside Reni for his final match. Similarly, Burns and Smith were given a game. Unfortunately, on top of this, Worthington went down early and Higson had to pull out before KO. Leeds also had changes, but more will always be made of these.

The main reason for the performance, IMO, is that it was a nothing match. Leigh were still on cloud nine after their magnificent achievements thus far. Leeds expected to stay up all along. They would not have felt the same sense of elation. Look at Hull. They have been one of the top sides in SL all season. They've still not come down from their achievements at Wembley. It is normal.