Leeds 36-0 Warrington: Rampaging Rhinos hammer Wolves
Last Updated: 29/02/20 7:30am
Leeds ran riot against a disappointing Warrington to cruise to a third successive win and go second in the Betfred Super League.
The rampant Rhinos ran in six tries without reply in a 36-0 victory at Headingley to pile the pressure on Wolves coach Steve Price, whose side won the Challenge Cup in August but have not won back-to-back league games since May.
Warrington, who handed a debut to 21-year-old centre Keenan Brand, were already trailing 20-0 when second rower Ben Masila-Murdoch was sin-binned for an ugly high tackle and the home side ran in three tries while they were down to 12 men.
Former Warrington hooker Brad Dwyer was one of six tryscorers for Leeds and second rower Rhyse Martin kicked six goals from eight attempts on his return from injury.
The only disappointment for Leeds, who opted not to play new signing Joe Greenwood, was the loss of exciting full-back Jack Walker with a leg injury inside the first quarter.
The Wolves had the first chance to open the scoring when centre Toby King collected Blake Austin's high kick to the line but was prevented from touching down and the home side went on to dominate the match.
Walker evaded the attempted tackle of Brand to score the opening try and earned his side a penalty after another dangerous run before hobbling off midway through the first half.
Dwyer forced winger Tom Lineham into touch during a rare raid on the home line and Martin extended his side's lead to 10-0 with a couple of penalties as the Wolves struggled to get out of their own half.
Walker's injury meant an unusual full-back role for Richie Myler and, although he came up with an early defensive blunder, he showed his attacking threat by linking with Dwyer and captain Luke Gale to slice through for Leeds' second try three minutes before the break.
Myler was also involved in the next try, picking up a loose ball after centre Harry Newman's kick rebounded off Warrington full-back Stefan Ratchford and getting Dwyer through a yawning gap.
Martin kicked his fourth goal to stretch the lead to 20-0 and there was no way back for the visitors when Murdoch-Masila was shown a yellow card on 51 minutes for a high tackle on Alex Mellor.
Leeds immediately took advantage of the extra man by scoring three tries in a devastating eight-minute spell.
Blockbusting centre Konrad Hurrell and prop Ava Seumanufagai both pummelled the under-manned Warrington defence to crash through for solo tries before winger Ash Handley collected Myler's cut-out pass to score the Rhinos' sixth try.
