Leeds power past Salford as Saints dominate Tigers

Leeds Rhinos overcame an early deficit and the loss of Brodie Croft to a worrying injury to beat Salford Red Devils 32-6 in round two of Super League as St Helens ran riot in a 46-6 victory over Castleford Tigers.

Croft was carried off on a stretcher after appearing to be knocked unconscious in a tackle just before half-time, with Rhinos staff thankfully revealing that the Australian was up and walking about during the delayed interval.

Joe Shorrocks was sent to the sin bin for his part in the incident and the resulting penalty gave Leeds a 16-6 lead at half-time, with Riley Lumb's try double and another from Morgan Gannon having wiped out the home side's early lead.

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Kallum Watkins had given Salford the ideal start as they looked to bounce back from their record-breaking 82-0 defeat at St Helens, a result which prompted an RFL investigation into head coach Paul Rowley's decision to field a team mostly made up of reserve players.

Rowley had been denied the use of a number of senior players due to salary cap restrictions which were finally lifted after the club announced the completion of a takeover on Thursday, ending a period of financial turmoil.

Matters on the pitch also looked brighter when Watkins dove over from close range with less than two minutes gone after a 40:20 kick from Marc Sneyd had given his side the chance to attack deep in Leeds territory.

However, from then out it was all the Rhinos with Lumb, Gannon, Ash Handley, James Bentley, and Ryan Hall extending an attractive scoreline to get their first win of the season on the board.

Saints run riot at the Jungle

Teenage star Harry Robertson scored twice as St Helens followed up last week's record-breaking rout of Salford with a dazzling nine-try demolition of Castleford in their Betfred Super League clash at The Jungle.

Robertson was joined on the scoresheet by Joe Batchelor, Kyle Feldt, Jonny Lomax, Agnatius Paasi, Alex Walmsley, Jack Welsby and Jon Bennison while Mark Percival kicked 10 points in their 46-6 win.

It took Saints' tally to a remarkable 128 from their first two games of the season and suggests they are shaping up to challenge the top of the table again after a relatively below-par 2024 campaign.

Castleford must have feared the worst after a torrid opening 15 minutes in which the visitors looked like they had every intention of seeking to emulate their historic 82-0 thrashing of Salford last week.

The hosts, by contrast, were coming off a pair of defeats, albeit the manner of last week's agonising loss at Hull KR had given Danny McGuire's men genuine hope of claiming a morale-boosting first win.

That sense of optimism started to flicker as early as the sixth minute when Batchelor leaped onto a short pass from Welsby to get the visitors up and running, and shortly afterwards Feldt crossed in the corner after Tristan Sailor's pass parted the home defence.

When Bennison's perfectly weighted kick sent Lomax scurrying over with less than a quarter of an hour gone, those hopes had been well and truly punctured and another miserable night looked in store for the hosts.

To the hosts' credit, they rallied to defy the visitors for the remainder of the first period, reducing the deficit to an improbable eight points when Sylvester Namo bulled over for a try that was duly converted by Tex Hoy.

Things could have got even better for Castleford had Daejarn Asi not tried to go solo when he burst back towards the Saints 20 almost immediately after the restart.

But Saints regrouped at the interval and started the second period as they had the first, stretching the Castleford line to breaking point, and re-establishing their comfortable advantage when Paasi crashed over from close range.

He was followed in quick succession by 19-year-old Robertson, who cut in from the right flank for a dazzling second, and Walmsley, who was given an all-too-early time of it by the sagging home defence, as Saints skated away towards another comprehensive win.

Fletcher Rooney came close to an eye-catching consolation for the hosts as the minutes ticked down but he was bundled out by his full-back counterpart Welsby, who duly ventured up the other end to score before Bennison added the ninth and last.

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