McDermott hails Leeds attacking flair

LONDON: Leeds Rhinos laid down a marker to move second in the Super League on Sunday and head coach Brian McDermott believes their attacking play was as good as it has been in recent memory.
Leeds have been up and down at times this season but pummelled Salford Red Devils to the tune of 50-24 at the AJ Bell Stadium to leapfrog their rivals in the standings.
They are now just eight points behind league leaders Castleford Tigers after Australian duo Matt Parcell and Joel Moon notched two of their nine tries, and McDermott claims his side ruthlessly coping with any pressure bodes well heading into the Super 8s.
"I thought we were outstanding in the first half and very committed in the second half," said McDermott.
"Sometimes when we've either had a chance to go top or second in the league in the past, we've not quite grasped it. But we looked very focused.
"Sometimes you've got to fear the opposition to bring out the best in you and we were on our guard heading into this game.
"We've probably been criticised for not creating enough but we created a lot in this game. It was a good reminder of what we can do - that was as good as we've been on offence for a long, long time."
On Saturday, defending Super League champions Wigan Warriors were made to work hard to see off Catalans Dragons in France - eventually prevailing 32-10.
Dragons led 10-8 around the 60-minute mark but tries from George Williams, Sam Tomkins, and two from ex-NRL player Joe Burgess to complete his hat-trick, saw Wigan pull away.
That sealed their spot in the Super 8s and Warriors assistant coach John Winder believes the late onslaught of points was no less than his side's hard work merited.
"I was really pleased with the result. For 60 minutes I thought it was a real arm wrestle and it was a really tough game," said Winder.
"Both sides were very competitive. We just stuck at it and got through that 60-minute mark and things just started to open up for us.
"I thought we got what we deserved and we stuck with the process long enough and we managed to snag a couple of tries before the momentum went with us at the end."
Fourth-placed Hull FC are now 11 points behind leaders Castleford after falling to a 19-12 defeat at St Helens on Friday night.
It was Hull's eighth defeat of the campaign and head coach Lee Radford was left fuming as his troops were completely outgunned by a team now just four points behind them in the table.
"It is difficult to win games when you are second best in energy and execution departments," admitted Radford.
"If we would have won the game it would have been like us doing a bank job on them, without a balaclava. It was down to mindset.
"We spoke about being a threat and errors occurred and we spent an awful lot of time on our try line.
"The only plus for us is what we did on our goal-line defence. Everything else was bang average." — AFP