Praise for 'immense' Peacock

Rhinos bounce back in style from Wembley disappointment

Last updated: 31st August 2012   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Praise for 'immense' Peacock

Jamie Peacock: best player in Leeds' Wembley defeat

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Leeds coach Brian McDermott paid tribute to former England captain Jamie Peacock after the prop's man-of-the-match performance in the Rhinos' 46-12 win over Salford.

The 34-year-old forward was the Rhinos' best player in last Saturday's 35-18 Challenge Cup final defeat by Warrington and he picked up from where he left off at Wembley by helping lay the platform for his side's eight-try victory at Headingley.

"Last week he was absolutely immense and tonight he was as fresh," said McDermott, who played alongside Peacock at Bradford when the Bulls lifted the Challenge Cup 12 years ago.

"You've got to take into account the amount of preparation he puts in and also we'd like to recognise the efforts of Andy Barker and Jason Davidson, the physio and conditioner who have a big part in where JP is at the moment.

"There are some things that he can't do any more because of his age but we don't notice too many of those. That performance out there tonight was as big as it's been for a while."

The Rhinos bounced back from their Wembley heartache in style and McDermott added: "Our mentality was big after last week. The danger is you pay lip service to getting yourself up to it again after what has been a big emotional week."

Salford coach Phil Veivers admitted: "They were pretty good but we were atrocious. I thought we were probably lucky to be only 16-0 down at half-time. It could have been a few more.

"We missed too many tackles. We were embarrassing in defence, I was disgusted with what I was watching. I've told them they need to seriously look at themselves."

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