Zak Hardaker returns but Liam Sutcliffe the star as Rhinos beat Wakefield
By PA Sport
Last Updated: 18/06/16 10:01am
Transfer-listed full-back Zak Hardaker made a low-key return as Leeds produced their most dominant performance of the season to beat Wakefield 32-6.
Last year's Man of Steel had not played since expressing his desire to leave and test himself in the NRL but Liam Sutcliffe stole the show with a 20-point haul as the champions made it back-to-back wins for the first time in 2016.
Fast starts have not been an issue for the Rhinos in recent weeks and they were quickly out of the blocks again as Mitch Achurch opened the scoring.
Leeds held a 10-point advantage at the break after Sutcliffe converted a try from Brad Singleton, who crossed again early in the second half with Wakefield debutant David Fifita in the sin bin.
Sutcliffe continued his excellent night with the boot to put the Rhinos out of sight and then went over himself with Bill Tupou in the bin.
Leeds remain bottom of the First Utility Super League despite their first away win of the year while Wakefield - whose only points came from Ben Jones-Bishop's converted try - are still on course for a top-eight finish.
The Rhinos' injury problems have been well documented but they made the short journey to Belle Vue with a strong squad and were celebrating the opening try after just two minutes when Achurch took Danny McGuire's pass and benefited from soft tackling to power his way over.
Fellow forward Mitch Garbutt almost followed suit as the Rhinos continued to dominate the early exchanges in driving rain.
Sutcliffe added to his early conversion with a penalty to make it 8-0 to the visitors but Wakefield got back in it against the run of play as Jones-Bishop slid over in the corner on the back of Matty Ashurst's break.
Leeds responded positively to the setback and after another long spell of pressure in the Wildcats half, they were happy to take the two points on offer when Wakefield were caught offside.
The home side were struggling to get out of their own end and they fell further behind as Singleton crashed over after Rob Burrow's kick was patted back by Ryan Hall on his return from a three-month injury lay-off.
Sutcliffe made it four from four from the boot to give Leeds a 16-6 lead and their grip on the match became tighter when Fifita was sin-binned for lashing out in the tackle.
Leeds crossed only once while the prop was in the bin - through Singleton's close-range effort from McGuire's pass - but that was enough to leave them firmly in control of a scrappy contest.
Two more Sutcliffe penalties made it 26-6 to the Rhinos and Wakefield's discipline continued to let them down as Tupou was yellow-carded for interference after the Wildcats were placed on a team warning.
Sutcliffe strolled over late on as Leeds avenged their Easter defeat by Wakefield in style.
