Leeds Rhinos welcomed newly promoted Bradford Bulls to Headingley, and certainly gave them a taste of Super League rugby. In the pre-season friendly, the Rhinos won 46-16, marking Cameron Smith’s testimonial match with a win.
Smith was allowed a testimonial following 10 years at Leeds Rhinos, where he made his debut in 2016. The player stated he was “proud” to see over 6,500 fans at the stadium in support of him and his team, and even managed to get on the scoresheet.
While the team managed to win, they managed to gain multiple injuries, which is not what a team who is 2 weeks from their opening game of the season wants to see.
Winger Chris Hankinson, Second-rower James McDonnell, Centre Ash Handley and his replacement Max Simpson all had to be taken off due to injuries. This comes after Handley has recently returned from surgery on his groin. Hankinson also had to leave the pitch, after receiving a broken nose.
The Rhinos started off strong, but as they got further into the game, they completely dominated the Bulls, after allowing them to equalise multiple times.
Leeds made the first move ahead after 20 minutes, with Handley scoring from a quick reaction by Lumb to Jake Connors kick. The following conversion taken by Connors hit the post, and the four-point lead was soon equalised by Bulls’ Joe Keyes.
The lead was quickly retaken by Leeds, once again through Handley, who received the ball from a perfectly timed kick by Connor. The subsequent conversion kick was scored by the number 7.
The halftime score ended up at 16-12, with Bradford managing to equalise, then lose the lead to the Rhinos again.
Many eyes were on Jake Connor after a successful 2025 campaign, and this has been judged by supporters as a decent run out for him. New signing Ethan O’Neill also put an impressive display on for the fans, with a seemingly promising season ahead of him.
The second half saw tries from both the Rhinos and the Bulls, but also showed the difference in quality between the two sides. This was when Leeds began to completely take over the match.
There were tries from Croft, Smith and Cassell, despite some fairly consistently poor play from Lachie Miller throughout the second half.
Following the end of the match, Rhino’s head coach Brad Arthur stated that this was “exactly what the team needed” before the start of the Super League season.