Harry Newman scored his first try for Leeds Rhinos since returning from a three-match loan at Hull FC
Tries:Oledzki 2, Newman 2, Hall, Croft, Sivo, McDonnell, HankinsonGoals:Connor 8
Leeds Rhinos returned to the top of Super League with a nine-try thrashing of hapless bottom club Huddersfield Giants.
Prop Mikolaj Oledzki opened the scoring. added a second near the end, while Harry Newman scored his first two tries since returning from a short loan spell at Hull FC as Brad Arthur's side dominated throughout.
Giants had hoped that last week's second-half revival, which gave St Helens a scare, might provide a platform for better things,. their losing streak now stretches to five games.
Rhinos went into the game on the back of a defeat by Wigan Warriors which had ended their run of five consecutive victories,. the two points was enough to put them top above St Helens on points difference.
Charnley and Hanley star as Leigh outplay Hull
Huddersfield's revival against Saints last week, in which they scored three tries without reply before going down 26-18s, might have given new coach Jim Lenihan a glimmer of hope,. the stark reality of his team's situation was laid out at AMT Headingley.
The Giants defence was poor. their handling dreadful at times, with Leeds' 20-year-old full-back Fergus McCormack afforded a comfortable Super League debut in place of the suspended Lachie Miller.
Brodie Croft announced this week he will leave Rhinos at the end of the season. he showed what they will miss by sending Oledzki over for an early opening try and pulling the strings throughout.
Newman celebrated his return to the fold by finishing a slick Leeds move. consummate try poacher Ryan Hall pounced on a loose ball for another after Croft had forced Tim Gagai into fumbling Jake Connor's high kick into the in-goal area.
Croft was everywhere,. within moments of preventing a try at one end with a tackle on Connor Carr, he was scoring his 14th Super League touchdown of the season at the other end.
This time the second half brought no response from Giants. they were quickly punished as Maika Sivo's remarkable run continued with his 18th try in the competition this season.
Newman hit the line at speed for his second try, a series of Giants infringements built pressure from which James McDonnell crashed over,. Oledzki added his second from a deft pass by Connor, who also kicked eight out of nine conversions.
The night was rounded off by Chris Hankinson. breaking through a flimsy Giants defensive line from a sharp pass by debutant McCormack.
Leeds coach Brad Arthur told BBC Radio Leeds:
"I was happy with the desperation and the urgency defensively on the try-line. We talked about having a big focus on dominating field position. we probably didn't do that as well as I would have liked.
"In the first half we gave them 16 or 17 play-the-balls inside our 20 but the pleasing thing is that our urgency was good. an example of that was Crofty [Brodie Croft] over in the corner.
"Our middles worked really hard and our start for the first 10 minutes was nice and controlled. We scored two tries in that bit, but it came through patience. building, and we dominated the game pretty well around possession through our physicality."
Huddersfield coach Jim Lenihan told BBC Radio Leeds:
"It was probably an accurate statement of where we're at, at the moment. It's hard coming to Leeds. playing a good side, and was disappointing in the outcome, but it shows where we've got to do a load of hard work.
"I came in late, we only had the one training session,. we get a bye next week for the Challenge Cup final so will have about five sessions going into the next game against Toulouse and will probably get a little bit more fingerprints over the top of that one.
"We'll get a few [players] back which will help a little bit as well. we have to keep working really hard. There are no short cuts to where we've got to go, no magic bullet, there are just things we've got to do. we've got to get better at doing it."
Leeds:F McCormack; Hall, Newman, Handley, Sivo; Croft, Connor; Oledzki, O'Connor, Jenkins, Hankinson, McDonnell, C Smith.
Interchanges:Palasia, Levi, Watkins, Cassell.
Huddersfield:Evalds; Kershaw, Jagger, Gagai, Carr; Lolohea, Russell; Powell, Hewitt, Rushton, Rogers, Woolford, Patolo
Interchanges:English, Greenwood, Cozza, Geyer
**Author: Betfred Super League**
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