Episode 24 Super League Show

Hello there.

The greatest show on earth is up and running in Rio and the final

lap of the Rugby League season is underway.

Week one of the Super Eights and Jamie Peacock and John

Keir are standing by.

This is how it works.

The top eight after 23 rounds of the regular season have broken

away and take their points and they play each other over

the next two months.

The top four then contest the play-offs and try to win the big

one at Old Trafford.

The bottom four face the top four from the Championship.

It is a little bit more, complicated than that,

but all will become clear over the next eight weeks.

We will start tonight with Thursday's meeting

of Warrington and St Helens.

Saints have been resurgent and are looking to continue that form.

Dave Woods was watching.

Back towards the middle again.

Taking it in.

Ten metres out, scrambled forward.

Short pass and McCarthy-Scarsbrook using all his will to

get over and score.

Midway through this first half.

Clark.

A fine atmosphere around the place.

Dropped down.

But Clark out from dummy half, Daryl Clark, sniping his way over.

Warrington should be back level again

in a moment.

Hold.

Roby.

Stepping back on the inside, but no way through.

Roby collects again.

Moore is going to bustle forward and a good off-load and Turner goes

left and gets the pass away and Percieval to Swift who has got

the pace to take on Evans.

Lomax backing up, what a wonderful St Helens try that was.

From start to finish, brilliant from Jonny Lomax.

Wriggling away, Ratchford.

Warrington are working their way down field at the moment.

It is a drop by Toby King.

Zero tackle.

Percival is trying to get on with it but McCarthy-Scarsbrook

is getting involved.

McCarthy-Scarsbrook very much involved here.

McCarthy-Scarsbrook comes in and then Hughes is

grabbing him in the face.

Oh dear!

It does not look good from Jack Hughes.

You kept hold of him.

That has caused a problem.

It is a penalty.

I will speak to him in a moment.

That might come back to haunt Jack Hughes.

It does not look nice.

Roby.

Taking them down the middle again here.

Walmsley will be held up ten metres away.

St Helens are sensing something, it will be a penalty.

St Helens will take their two.

Lazy push in the end.

A chance for Percival to open up this St Helen 's lead

to a two score lead here.

Put that one over, 14-6, a little bit of a cushion that

St Helens can enjoy.

Dummy, Westerman.

Dragged down.

By Joe Greenwood.

Slow play of the ball, penalty.

Referee deciding he was not getting off quick enough.

Solid support from the stands and the St Helen 's coaching staff

because they know their side are under pressure.

He will take it in.

Here is Clark.

Back it goes, the short pass and Hughes is the man who is over.

It is Jack Hughes.

Warrington dragging themselves back into the contest again.

Hughes is the man to do the business.

Roby short to his right.

St Helens nibbling up the yards.

Roby again.

They are coming in waves once more.

McCarthy-Scarsbrook.

Turner kept hold and drags himself over.

Sheer determination.

Really powerful individual effort.

Stretching his muscles beyond endurance

but he has scored.

Keeping it alive.

Hill.

Eventually put down.

The Warrington coach watching to see if his side can get in again.

Atkins.

What a splendid individual effort, eight minutes left to play,

Atkins with a wonderful solo try and Warrington are back

within touching distance.

Warrington.

Looking right.

Here it comes.

Quick hands.

Evans might just have won it.

With what could be the last play of the game.

He says try.

Foot in touch and grounded.

Look at this.

That right foot just brushes the line.

Just brushes the line.

In the act of scoring, it will be no try.

St Helens surely now are going to hang on to win a cliffhanger.

It is just about keeping the ball safe.

Played out by a Warrington player as it went through.

Warrington will not get it back.

That will be that.

St Helen 's momentum might just be unstoppable.

The way they are playing at the moment.

Really fine margins.

Fabulous finish.

Another victory for St Helens.

Dave Woods said that there were fine margins with that great tackle

by Percival on Rhys Evans that clinched the game and that

commitment to defence typified St Helens at this moment in time.

They are buying into the basic principles, executing them well

and any team that has come away with the win at Wigan and Warrington

in the last six, they are in pretty good form.

They are a danger to anyone.

Half a dozen victories on the spin, seven in a row and they go

to Warrington, they love it, why does that happen?

It gives them confidence.

They have the muscle memory, they have won the game there before.

It is not the reason why Saints won.

They are doing the non-negotiable.

They are running hard tackling hard and kicking and chasing well.

They are in very good form and one of the most dangerous sides.

Great to see Jonny Lomax back fit and playing good Rugby League.

We have missed him.

He is a heck of a talent.

It is great to see him.

13 months out.

I love this clip of St Helens.

It is instinctive.

There is an off-load.

They play at the space.

On the outside.

There is Jonny Lomax staying on the inside as any

good fullback should.

This is a high-quality Rugby League side.

It is off-the-cuff stuff, all about support and speed

and it is exciting for anyone to watch.

Tony Smith did not like the turnaround,

does he have a point?

When you are in a big game, it takes a bit out of you,

it is a five-day turnaround and as a player you should be

able to deal with that.

You would like a seven-day turnaround but as a player,

when I had a five-day turnaround, I thought it was great.

There were four Challenge Cup semifinalists in that top eight

who had a rest and I do not think a game would have been

beyond the realms of possibility to have them playing

on the Thursday.

Saints striding, Wigan are wobbling, the Warriors were in reverse

towards the end of the regular season and were looking to avoid

a fourth successive defeat.

They were playing Wakefield and Matt Newsome saw this.

Wigan poised through Sam Powell.

Williams steps back towards the centre

and crosses for Wigan.

Powell targets.

He brushes away, free, touches it down.

Smith.

At the back it goes to Williams, again down the left-hand side.

That is a lovely little flick back and Josh

Charnley finishes it off.

Powell.

Atkins in the middle with Smith.

Atkins to the left-hand side, Williams through the hands,

Tomkins steps his way and touches down.

It has been all Wigan but this is a rare glimpse for Wakefield.

Miller shuffles the ball away.

Joe Arundel!

He will slide across.

Bateman.

Taking on the line himself here.

At sixes and sevens and he has strolled through.

John Bateman for Wigan.

Driving forward.

Wakefield struggling to contain them and he has got a ball away.

Streaming into space, dummies the pass, manages to pass

to Sam Tomkins and the mood is still alive.

Tautai.

Straight forward to Williams.

He will stride through.

Right on the left-hand side.

Sio.

To Miller.

It has been picked there.

Dom Manfredi is the poacher and he will get away from Miller

and he will continue to chase but Dom Manfredi has got the pace

to strive through and slide under the sticks.

Dummy half, to Williams, again this left-hand side.

Come back to the middle and he will go himself

here and Max hit the post.

John Bateman has carved his way through, he has got

Dan Sarginson in support.

He feeds it to him and Wigan are flying.

Having made the top eight, Wakefield might have

fancied their chances but they are being

stranded by Wigan.

John Bateman is streaming through, Sam Tomkins back on the inside.

Scored his 150th Wigan try.

Quite an effort.

Wigan are well and good.

Sarginson.

It has been intercepted by Craig Hall and it is

a simple trip to the line.

Rare moment of joy for Wakefield.

They have a big scrum.

A really sloppy pass.

Acted on by Bateman.

Has he got the pace and composure?

Hall again is chasing.

Picked up by Bateman.

Support all around, he will find Matty Smith and Smith

will ice the cake for Wigan.

They needed that Jamie, great way to return to winning ways.

It was not far off in the semifinal against Hull.

They really contributed.

A lot of fuss at that game was created.

Wakefield had 60 odd points on them earlier in the season.

John Bateman coming back, you saw how influential he was.

Great feet as well.

You are off back to Wakefield next year, is that this year done

for them now?

I think it is difficult for them to pick themselves up.

If you're asking asked to have objectives, the top eight

and Challenge Cup would have seen a dream season but the fact

is they have achieved that already.

I believe what they have got to do now is start looking towards next

season and building for next season and you do that by performing well

and building on your systems and structures and honestly

they will be looking out for the defensive aspect

because they have conceded 60 odd points and that is something that

needs addressing and could be cracked in a very competitive

situation for the rest of the season.

Sounds like you have started that job already!

Catalan and Widnes started the super eight against each other

which is how they ended the regular season.

Jodie Broughton got the Dragons on the board on this one.

This was a terrific score.

It was, yeah.

I think this was a terrific game, to tell you the truth.

We see them attacking there.

The Catalan line.

And this boy gets the ball, and he can catch.

He can turn the light off and he's in bed before

it's dark, I tell you!

He's that fast.

They almost close him down and it's a tremendous finish, it really is.

The line just came in time.

He literally fell over the line.

He did.

Another couple of metres.

A heck of an effort.

And obviously they built further from that and again,

there's a little error there, on the spot to ground the ball

for that four points.

And I thought Catalan, as St Helens, they based a lot of this game

on their defence and they looked really good as well with that.

That was Whitley just touching down.

We had a teenager scoring a hat-trick.

In Yaha.

He's a big fellow, isn't he?

He's a big fellow, he's a strong fellow, he's a fast fellow.

And he can knock people about as well when he's got

the ball in hand.

But they really did attack the Widnes right hand side.

Because they hadn't many changes.

Mellows defending on the wing sometimes,

then Thompson at other times.

And they really targeted that.

And Yaha was the main beneficiary.

Catalan another team getting back to winning ways.

Yeah, I think the break will have done good.

They will have gone back and looked at what wins rugby games.

And come out and played that way.

For me as well, with Widnes suffering those injuries,

I'd like to see a bit of a rule change that if you lose a player

from the game through injury, you can have five substitutes.

And bring these players in.

I think Denis Betts spoke about Catalan just targeting

the side where they suffer those injuries.

And that will take away that problem.

He did say he was proud of how his side played under

the circumstances, did Denis Betts.

Well, Hull FC are one of two teams still in with a chance

of the trouble.

They made it to the Challenge Cup final, remember, last week.

And are hoping to take another step towards the league leaders shield

when they played Castleford on Friday.

Commentary here from Dave Woods.

Rangi Chase at dummy half.

Good early pressure here that Castleford have.

Moors eventually wrestled to the ground.

Milner up at dummy half.

Gale spinning it wide.

Solomona's pass quickly blocked by those scrambling defenders.

He has got a good off-load away.

Minikin.

Minikin reaches out the arm and scores.

Great start for Castleford.

Only three minutes played.

So Dorn will play and Castleford come again.

Another wave of attack.

Rangi Chase.

Crooks.

Scooping it up.

Hampshire stepping back on the inside.

And through some rather soft Hull defending.

Three defenders there, but Hampshire with the finish.

And Castleford are making quite a statement here.

Shane, connecting it there, it is the sixth tackle.

Still the last, the referee says.

So they go to Hampshire, whose way is quickly blocked.

McShane off-loads.

Hampshire spinning it.

Gale going left.

This is a chance for Minikin again.

This time he flicks it backwards and Gale is over!

For a third Castleford try.

Well, who saw this coming?

Minikin doing ever so well here to keep this alive.

The little flick away and Gale's alert to that.

To dart over.

And the coach enjoyed the moment.

McShane.

Chase offering it inside to Savelio.

Savelio with a bustle and a barge.

Eventually down he goes, but he wants to scramble up and play

this ball quickly.

There's a Hull player left on the floor.

Gale puts it back.

Dorn with a dummy!

Sliding over.

He might be in his final year, but he's still

a class act, Luke Dorn.

Gale.

Castleford just prodding and probing

here at the moment.

Moors.

Always a handful.

The coach has spotted something, McShane goes to the right-hand side.

The dummy is shown by Chase.

Who then off-loads wonderfully well.

Out of the tackle.

For Hampshire to finish for his second try of the night.

The penalty has Hull within touching distance.

"Hull faithful" is echoing around the stadium.

They've not had much to cheer so far tonight.

Over an hour played, Castleford very much

in the driving seat.

But here come Hull and finally, Michaels, not to be

denied this time.

With Hull's first try.

More urgency in these last few minutes than there has

been throughout the game so far from Hull.

And look at this from Prichard.

Always a potentially damaging runner.

Houghton flicking it away.

Just trying to force their way over at the moment.

Houghton again.

And Washbrook has picked a path!

And Danny Washbrook is over.

So back to back Hull tries has given them a glimmer of hope.

That's a good ball away and Yeamen is away.

Down the left-hand side.

Gathered in by Hampshire, not quite the pace on that occasion.

But it has given Hull a very good position to work from here.

You think it is probably too much to do with not enough time to play,

but they might give themselves hope if they can scramble a try.

And here's Pritchard doing his best, and the finish by Jamie Shaul.

It is three tries in succession, four minutes left to play.

They have to score twice more, though.

And it is probably too much.

The clock is counting down now and Castleford exactly

where they want to be.

And very close to getting the final try of the night as well.

Milner!

Adam Milner will get the final try of the night.

Or will he?

The referee is asking a question here.

He thinks try.

Having a look at the play of the ball.

He has waggled his leg vaguely in the right direction.

And that counts.

And Milner's pick-up was clean.

So it is going to be a try for Castleford.

And what a performance for them, so-called, nothing to play

for at this stage of the season, but they have put in a mighty

performance tonight.

Castleford have won twice at Hull this season.

Star man yet again Luke Dorn.

Since he has announced he is retiring, he has been

absolutely brilliant.

Yes, he's an outstanding player.

I think he found his spiritual home, actually, at Castleford.

It suits Luke Dorn, how Daryl Powell has set his team.

And he is obviously a very gifted player.

He loves sweeping round the back, loads of pace, passing as well.

He's got footwork.

So if he gets that opportunity and gets

one-on-one against a player, especially close to the line,

he's going to come up trumps.

And he's done that a number of times in his career.

And he can still play at this level, but it's family reasons mainly that

he's going home.

He still got it.

There's no doubt about that.

And he will be sadly missed.

I'm sure that is one of Daryl Powell's main recruitment

targets, is to find another full-back similar to Luke Dorn.

Both Challenge Cup finalists lost this weekend, JP.

Is that another example of how tough it is, how gruelling it is at this

stage of the season, to keep going at that level

on so many different fronts?

Yes, I think it's new challenges for Hull.

I think Hull are a benchmark side now for people in

Super League in 2016.

So when you are the benchmark side, I reckon coaches plot to beat you,

they want to come up with a game plan to beat you.

And the players who play against you will rise up every week,

they want to play better against a side who are in

the Challenge Cup final and who are top of the table.

That's something they're going to have to deal

with for the rest of the year.

It is three of the four semifinalists actually

who lost at the weekend.

That is the top eight all wrapped up.

So let's take a look at how they stand in the First

Utility Super League table.

The Challenge Cup finalists both lost, Wigan now sit

between Hull and Warrington.

Saint Helens are just four points off the top.

Widnes and Wakefield at ten adrift off the play-off spots with just 12

left to play for.

Well so to the qualifiers, these are the eight teams fighting

for Super League status over the next couple of months.

Leeds and Huddersfield among them of course.

Salford and Hull KR survived this system last year,

Leigh, London and Featherstone and Batley are the teams

looking to gain promotion from the championship.

First up then we get the inside story on just

what happened when these two met at the Lightstream Stadium.

Hull Kingston Rovers against Batley of course.

John, your Bulldogs were first on the board.

Yeah, they started really well.

Alistair Leak is a smart player.

He knows it's a chink in the defence and over he went.

But I was really impressed with Hull Kingston Rovers.

How they approached the game, I think the Oldham Challenge Cup

defeat certainly didn't do us any favours this game,

because Albert Kelly came with his A game.

Ken Sio came with his A game.

Blair and Lunt.

When you've got players like that who already performing

well, the others follow.

And we met a Hull Kingston Rovers team who played really well.

The first of three there for Thomas Minns.

Was it a Rovers side that had learned from their defeat

in the cup to Oldham?

I think John is doing himself a bit of disservice there.

We respected Batley because they are a good side.

I think the slip up against Oldham made us extra cautious

about what we were doing.

But respecting what Batley could do.

You don't finish where you finished in the table without being

a good team against other full-time players.

We had to give them the respect they deserved.

You were picking holes, Jamie, in their defence.

He is a great player, Ken Sio.

He picked a few holes in Super League sides this year,

never mind teams coming up from the championship.

We scored some great long-range tries just recently.

We are a threat with the ball and the team is looking a lot better

than it has done for a while.

I think Ken Sio is as good a winner as there is in Super League.

Our kicking strategy was to kick basically anywhere but to him.

But obviously Hull Kingston Rovers's strategy was to get it to him

as soon as possible!

So, you know, it worked very effectively.

But there are some good players coming through at

Hull Kingston Rovers, with young Green on the edge

and obviously Albert Kelly is a stellar player.

The confidence grew.

But I was pretty pleased with our lads' effort and application.

And we will be a better team at Batley at round

seven then we are now.

Because this is a step up in intensity.

It's a step up in quality.

The players enjoyed playing at this stadium and I think it will be

really fascinating the next six games for everybody.

Hull KR, Jamie, won all seven of their games at this

level last year.

This is a great start.

Yes, you want to get off to a good start in the qualifiers.

We managed to do that.

We managed to score some points and put in a performance as well

against a spirited side who played right to the death.

Right to the 80th minute.

But the key for us now is we've got Leeds coming up.

We've got some big games coming up.

It is now to perform against them.

Is it hard, John, watching this back?

In a way, yes.

I mean, I already watched it this morning and clipped it.

So yeah, I've tortured myself already before re-watching this.

No, you've just got to look, learn, and try to improve.

And that is what we will try to do.

We will reconvene, review this game, and then we will build for this

coming Sunday against London.

I'm sure you will do that.

The top two in the championship met on Saturday.

Leigh finished head and shoulders ready above their opponents, London.

And everyone else actually in that division.

But it is back to zero for both of them.

And everyone else in the qualifying.

Sharon has the details.

It took a while for the first try to come in this game,

with only an exchange of penalties for the first 20 minutes.

But it was Leigh that breached the London defence first.

With Matty Dawson on the end of slick passing.

But it wasn't long before it was all square again

as Ben Hellewell first-handed off Mitch Brown and found a way

through to score for London.

It didn't seem like Leigh wanted to make things easy for themselves,

though, as just after the half-hour mark they went down to 12 men.

A high tackle on Rhys Williams by Cory Paterson meant referee

Ben Thaler had no hesitation showing him a yellow card.

But it was still the home side that finished the half stronger,

with Martin Ridyard and Gregg McNally combining to send Brown in.

Ridyard converted to give Leigh a 14-8 half-time lead.

An early second-half penalty extended Leigh's advantage and that

stretched further when Maitua crashed in.

And when Mitch Brown scored his second on his debut just

after the hour mark, Ridyard converted and Leigh were 20

points ahead and looking in control.

It took Leigh four games to get a win in the qualifiers last year,

and after good work from Dane Weston led to the ball being shipped

left for Matty Dawson to score the second,

it looked in no doubt it

wouldn't take as long as that this season.

But London hadn't read that part of the script.

And with less than ten minutes to go, they started a comeback

with a try from Pewhairangi.

Jamie Soward provided the past to put him in at the corner.

But as he scored, a fight broke out in back play between Jamie Soward

and Leigh's Greg Worthington.

Jamie Soward appeared to feel he'd been taken out late in the build-up.

The fight resulted in a red card for Jamie Soward

and then Worthington.

Both sides down to 12 men for the rest of the game.

This served to galvanise London more than you could have anticipated.

A brilliant display of handling and support play that started

in their own half saw them keep the ball alive down the right

and end with Pewhairangi scoring his second try.

He converted it and the gap closed to 16 points.

Two minutes later, it closed even further.

More of the style of play that had been prompted after going down to 12

men kept the ball alive, allowing London to pressure

the Leigh try line.

It eventually led to a try for Andy Akers.

Three minutes to go, Leigh's lead was reduced to ten.

London still refused to give up.

Jack Bussey regathered his own kick and broke clear from his own half.

Daniel Harrison was in support and another successful conversion

brought them to within four.

But with seconds left on the clock, Leigh hung on to take the win,

despite what was possibly the craziest five minutes

of this year's season.

Sharon mentioned there, Jamie, some of the stats from the end

of last season for Leigh, who never really got going.

And a lot of people fancied them to gain promotion.

When we talk about lessons learned, they must have

learned lessons from that?

Well, we've yet to see that.

They've beaten London, but that's a side they've

beaten all year.

They've not played a Super League opposition yet.

And I think the key for Leigh is, last year they couldn't

handle the pressure.

Now they've signed big again at the back end of the year and the

pressures on them to deliver again.

Whether their players and their coaching staff can cope

with the pressure put on them, and the expectation from the crowd

and within the club to get back into Super League.

Well they do have at least the experience of 12 months ago.

We will hear by the way a lot more about the London Broncos when head

coach Andrew Henderson joins us next week.

He likes a chat, does Hendo.

Huddersfield, well they were still looking for their first

win under Rick Stone and they were at Salford on Sunday.

And it was a great start, this, to the qualifiers for the home side,

Jamie.

Yes, Salford are good side, I think if it wasn't

for the points taken away, there'd be up around six.

And they started the game very well.

Some poor defence from Huddersfield and a great try on the outside

from Mason Caton-Brown.

He had a great afternoon.

Yes, he is back in form again, I think he scored a hat-trick

the week before and he's in again scoring tries this week.

And that is what all wingers like to do,

John, don't they!

They do, yeah!

Without doing the hard work, yeah!

But I think, you know, a lot of these tries have come

from within ten metres of the Huddersfield goal-line.

So that is just one area that Rick Stone will be

looking to correct.

There is a barge over try there for Huddersfield

for their points.

But Salford will feel really happy with this, because...

Well that was Mason and then Roberts, sorry,

John, for Huddersfield.

Now I want you to take a close look at this incident.

This is Danny Brough.

Yes, well Danny Brough is a competitor.

And in he goes.

Yes, that looks a little naughty, does that.

And obviously Tomkins did react and, you know, you'd think

quite rightly, from that.

But I see the referee has got that under control.

There we see it again.

It is a grade C charge from the Rugby Football League.

So Brough will be sitting out two or three matches.

Well, it looks that way.

He's got to be proven guilty, but that's what the disciplinary

process is, I'm sure he'll be represented by the head

coach and himself.

But it didn't look the best incident that

we've seen, did it?

On the TV there.

Work to do for Huddersfield, great win though for Salford.

Yes, they will be very pleased with that.

They've got a tough opening.

They've played the Giants, they've got Leigh next and they've

got ourselves the first three games.

So they wanted to get off to a winning start.

They managed to do it.

Nicely done.

Finally, let's go to Post Office Road in Featherstone.

They call it the Big Fella stadium these days.

And in terms of Super League history, Featherstone come much

bigger than their visitors on Saturday.

Leeds Rhinos.

Commentary from Matt Newsome.

Leeds in a promising position here.

Brett Ferres across to the right hand side.

Turned onto his back by Taulapapa.

Enthusiasm in this Featherstone side early on as they come

to this right edge.

And it's Sutcliffe who gets his way through,

touches it onto Watkins.

Via Maguire.

And Leeds hit the front.

Joe Cobb awards the try.

Segeyaro is having a good game so far already.

Watkins, into space.

Back on the inside to Liam Sutcliffe.

Leeds showing Super League quality.

Segeyaro seemingly involved at every opportunity here.

Brett Ferres with the loose off load.

Picked up by Taulapapa.

Has he got the pace?

Feeds it off to Cooper, into space now, the hooker.

Across to this left-hand side, and he has tried to push that on.

It's a race between Thackeray and Briscoe.

And Thackeray gets there first!

Have the championship side got a try on the board?

Joe Cobb is going to the video referee.

The pass comes back.

Taulapapa is fine.

Gathered that cleanly.

It is here where it all counts.

Hacked on by Thackeray, so it's all about the finish.

Clean as a whistle.

And Featherstone are on the board!

A famous try for Anthony Thackeray.

And some happy flat-cappers.

Segeyaro.

To Jones-Buchanan.

Trying to bend the backs of this Featherstone site.

He gets it away back to Segeyaro.

Ball over the top to Ablett.

Good hands onto Joel Moon.

Moon has got support.

He will go it alone!

What a finish by Joel Moon!

Just brushed the Featherstone defenders away.

And Leeds are enjoying this one.

Jamie Jones-Buchanan ripped through the middle,

gets it away to Segeyaro.

He flicks it off in turn.

And that's a high tackle from Brett Delaney.

Slick play from Leeds, they're really finding

their groove at the moment.

And there is the claw around the chops.

So Brian McDermott watches on.

Sutcliffe to make the scores 18-6, on the cusp of the hooter.

It's been a fine first half.

Featherstone well in it.

But Leeds ahead at the break.

Segeyaro.

To Burrow.

Trying to slash through this line, and that's a really smart move,

back to the right-hand side.

And Liam Sutcliffe will come back inside and find Watkins.

Second try of the game for him.

And the England centre is really finding his form.

Leeds have a commanding lead.

As the ball from Maguire, sent high into the sky,

an awkward bounce.

Tom Briscoe flicks the ball away to Watkins.

Back on the inside he goes, to Achurch.

Leeds Rhinos stretch further in front.

I don't know whether it's the heat, whether the conditioning,

it's starting to tell here.

It's a Featherstone line-up, but Carl Ablett finds a way through!

Not even an hour gone and Leeds are well in control.

Have Featherstone got an answer to this seemingly

unstoppable Leeds onslaught?

Watkins gets away to the right-hand side.

They keep running down that channel.

And they've got Briscoe in.

Lovely flick past.

And Briscoe will saunter through.

And Leeds Rhinos hit 40 points.

It's been ruthless, it's been classy.

A little jeopardy for Leeds at the moment here, as they worked

it out on the left-hand side.

Back on the inside to Sutcliffe!

All too easy, all too easy for the Super League side.

There is only Stevie Ward who isn't available for Leeds at the moment.

All those injury problems earlier in the season.

Here comes Joel Moon, they call him Crazy Legs,

he lived up to it there!

Leeds Rhinos are putting their foot on the throat.

Some tired bodies out there.

Limping in navy this afternoon.

Segeyaro goes to the right-hand side, that's a hat-trick.

But Watkins, right back in form.

Leeds deep in their own territory.

They still manage to find a way through as Watkins races away.

He won't be caught, like a thoroughbred.

This is his fourth try of the game and caps it for Leeds.

Not even Super League's best could have lived with them today,

it's ominous for the rest of the qualifiers.

Leeds, Jamie, have got their swagger back.

They always do at this time of the season, albeit this

time they've left it a little bit too late.

But they could do some damage if they'd have

scraped into that eight, the way they are playing.

Yet, they've been playing very well recently.

I think before they got into the qualifiers,

they beat Hull, top of the table.

And they beat Wigan as well.

And I think the players look confident.

And they're injury free as well.

They've had a horrendous run of injuries this year.

Yes, you just sense that they might be all right.

But a word on Featherstone, John.

Almost 7000.

It was tremendous, a great atmosphere, and I thought

Featherstone did a pretty good job of that first half especially.

And two of those first three tries for Leeds came off the back

of Featherstone losing possession.

Just as we will learn after the Hull KR experience, I'm certain

Featherstone will learn as well after their Leeds experience.

And improve for the coming weeks.

Do you think they'll have to briefly pick themselves up?

No, I don't, not at all.

If you look at that Leeds team, that's some team.

And if you look at two, three, four and five,

they would get into any Super League team, believe you me.

Gentleman, I've had a great time, thank you very much for having me.

And that's it for this week.

You can join us at the same time next week.

Until then, goodbye.