It was a last second Tom Kaye try that decided the game back in May, and there promises to be plenty more drama when Leeds Rhinos Foundation’s Physical Disability Rugby League side go up against league leaders Wakefield Trinity on Sunday.
Rhinos have been replaced at the top of the PDRL League table by Trinity following defeat to Warrington Wolves at last month’s festival, but will have the perfect chance to take back top spot when they take on their West Yorkshire rivals at Victoria Park this weekend.
Player-coach Dan Roberts says that his side are raring to go and looking to build some momentum down the final stretch of the season.
“It’s important that we get back to winning ways this weekend,” said Roberts.
“We’re fully expecting Wakefield to come out firing as we narrowly beat them 16-12 in the first festival of the year at Eastmoor and they will want to put a couple of points between themselves and us at the top of the table. Likewise for us we are desperate to return there, so it should make for another tight, compelling game between the teams.
“We just need to keep carrying on what we’ve been working on in training and cut the silly penalties and errors out. If we can do that and execute, we’ll not be far off.
“We have a very talented squad and there’s no reason we can’t taste success this year if we hit form at the right time.”
Half-back Owen Lockwood is back in the side and believes they can learn from their mistakes in their defeat to the Wolves.
“That performance was not like us whatsoever and we do not expect our standards to drop like that so we will be looking to right our wrongs on Sunday,” said Lockwood.
“We handled periods okay and put good pressure on them at times, but the repeat sets on our own line and the penalties took their toll. For us, it’s important that we bounce back as a team after that and we need to hit-back strongly.
“In order for us to taste success this season these are the big games that we must win, so we need to put our best foot forward on Sunday.”
It will once again be a double-header at Sunday’s festival in Warrington, with Rhinos also facing Wigan Warriors at 12:30pm following their earlier match with Wakefield (12pm).
The PDRL festival is FREE for members to attend, with non-member entry prices £3 for adults and £1 for juniors- including admission to the Warrington Wolves v Barrow Raiders Women’s match at 2:30pm.
Squad:
Owen Lockwood
Dan Roberts (C)- sponsored by Reflex Group
James King
Chris Hall
Tom Sheridan- sponsored by Rainbow IT Services
Tom Kaye
Tom Lockett
Tom Pouncey
Dylan Hughes
Ben Rawling
Scott Gobin
Chris Young
Aaron Batley
Jamie Atkinson
Sam Zeller
Simon Brown- sponsored by Fired Up Technologies Ltd.
Follow us on Twitter @RugbyLeeds for updates throughout the day.