Leeds 38-14 Wakefield: Purcell inspires Rhinos win

Match stats

Leeds tries: Watkins (17,40), Mullally (29), Hall (44), Cuthbertson (57), Parcell (61)
Conversions/penalties: Golding (17,29,33,40,44,57,61) 

Wakefield tries: Johnstone (21,80), Fifita (50)
Conversions/penalties: Williams (50) 

Match report

On the day the Rhinos announced they had agreed a settlement with NRL club Cronulla over hooker James Segeyaro, his replacement Parcell ran the show as Leeds backed up last week's demolition of Catalans.

Kallum Watkins (pictured) opened his 2017 account with two first-half tries either side of Anthony Mullally's powerful finish to give the Rhinos a commanding 20-4 half-time lead.

Ryan Hall went over early in the second period to end the match as a contest and further tries from Adam Cuthbertson and Parcell completed a comfortable win that sent Leeds back into the top four.

Wakefield could only respond through a Tom Johnstone brace and David Fifita's try as they failed to build on back-to-back victories over St Helens and Salford.

After a tight opening 10 minutes a series of Wakefield errors allowed Leeds to set up camp in their half.

The Rhinos initially struggled to break Trinity down but, after the returning Brett Ferres was twice held up over the line, they turned their possession into points when Watkins plucked Danny McGuire's cross-field kick out of the sky to score under the posts.

Leeds lad Johnstone ensured Wakefield were not behind for long as he collected Jacob Miller's bouncing kick before turning McGuire inside out and racing clear to score his first try of the year.

A Sam Williams 40/20 kept the Rhinos on the back foot but Trinity were unable to take advantage of the field position and Leeds took control in the final 10 minutes of the half.

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Mullally, who had a loan spell at Wakefield in 2015, powered his way over after spotting a hole in the Trinity defence, a sign the visitors were becoming ragged.

Ashton Golding converted from just to the right of the posts and moments later slotted over a penalty from in front to make it 14-4 to the Rhinos.

Wakefield needed the half-time hooter but they were unable to see out the final few minutes as Watkins took dummy-half Parcell's flicked pass to dart over for his second try.

Leeds were good value for their lead after building on their impressive attacking showing against Catalans and more slick play from right to left allowed Hall to finish in the corner.

Golding made it five from five from the boot to put Leeds in full control, although their lead was cut to 16 points when Fifita brushed off McGuire to slam the ball down and Williams converted.

Cuthbertson took advantage of soft tackling to cut short a potential Wakefield comeback and it was a case of damage limitation for the visitors after Danny Kirmond was sin-binned for a late tackle on Rob Burrow as the 250th appearance of his career turned sour.

Parcell jinked his way over to score a try his performance merited but Johnstone had the last word on the final hooter by touching down Miller's cross-field kick. 

Match reaction

Wakefield coach Chris Chester's angry reaction to defeat: " We were out-muscled and out-enthused all night. They ran the ball a lot harder than we did and we were no match for them.

"I could tell in the first 10 minutes that we were a bit dishonest in the things we were doing. Leeds were by far the best side and it could have been a bit more had they executed a bit better.

"The standards we set eight or nine weeks ago when we discussed how we wanted to be perceived was a waste of time. We were poor straight from the kick-off and got beat by a far better team tonight.

"I can't repeat what I said at half-time. I was very disappointed with certain individuals and the way we performed out there. Maybe a few of the guys have fallen in love with themselves after a couple of really good wins.

"We got blown away by Leeds. We couldn't live with them. Like I said, we got out-muscled, out-enthused and maybe out-coached as well." 

Leeds coach Brian McDermott on Matt Parcell and Kallum Watkins:  "My man of the match would be Matt Parcell - I thought he was outstanding.

"While he's not making breaks or creating many line breaks, he holds the ruck accountable and gives Danny McGuire, Adam Cuthberton and Joel Moon a bit of breathing space.

"While Kallum can score tries and look flash near their tryline, his real worth to us is for the other 85 per cent of the field. He works extremely hard for this team. I've heard comments about him being quiet because he's not scoring flash tries, but he creates a hell of a lot for us and works his nuts off for the team.

"I never thought he was out of form. I thought he was fantastic for us last year throughout a tough season."