Leeds Rhinos win over Hull KR was fortunate, says coach Brian McDermott
Last Updated: 12/02/15 11:00am
Leeds Rhinos coach Brian McDermott said luck had a part to play in his side's 40-30 win over Hull KR.
The KC Lightstream Stadium played host to a sell-out crowd of 11,811 as late tries from Zac Hardaker and Brad Singleton brought about a Rhinos win away from home in their opening Super League fixture of the 2015 campaign.
McDermott was not particularly impressed with the execution of his team, but he did note the attitude of the players was key as the Challenge Cup holders were twice forced to come back from a 14-point deficit before finally taking the lead and the victory.
"We can find ourselves fortunate to win," McDermott said. "The bounce of ball and a couple of others things went our way. There are things we need to correct but I'm pleased to get the win.
"It was a mixed bag in terms of performance, with some spells good, other spells weren't so good.”
The Rhinos boss was quick to praise the efforts of the home team, adding: "Defensively we were leaky but KR deserve a lot of credit. Their halves played very well and their pack was resilient.
"It was an entertaining game in front of a sell-out crowd and it was a great advert for our game.
“Lesser teams would not have rallied from a 14-point deficit once, let alone twice. I'm proud of the way we came from 14 down twice.
"That's not easily done. KR did very well getting away from us. But momentum swung our way at crucial times."
Controlled
Meanwhile, Hull KR coach Chris Chester had the opposite feeling after the game; unhappy with the result but impressed by his team’s performance.
"We came here and played a lot more controlled last year,” he said. “We will be better for the run out. We conceded 30 points and we know we can't do that too often.
"There's lots of positives to take from this game. We were the better side for 65 minutes. I'm disappointed with the result but happy with performance.
"It's frustrating losing 14-point leads because we're better than that defensively.
"It's not nice conceding 40 points, but we'll get better. There were a few individuals who missed a few tackles but overall I'm proud of the effort."