Brett Hodgson said his side were ‘outstanding’ in their comprehensive 31-8 victory over Leeds Rhinos at Headingley on Thursday evening.
Two tries and an assists from the Campbell Engineering Man of the Match saw last season’s Man of Steel nominee Jake Connor steal the show with an electrifying first-half performance, with tries also coming from Adam Swift, Andre Savelio and Joe Lovodua.
Speaking after the match, Hodgson said: “The performance was outstanding. With players out of position, including Joe Lovodua in the halves and Ligi Sao at back-row – across the board, I can’t be unhappy with anyone.
“We got the balance wrong last week, and the manner in which we lost was disappointing. We had some tough conversations throughout the week, but we came here and did what we needed to do.
“That opening forty was our best of the season so far. Especially given the players we didn’t have available. It’s probably one of the best while I’ve been at the club.”
On Connor, he added: “Jake was guilty of overplaying his hand early last week, but I love that he ran the ball in the first set. He was willing to the hard stuff and he’ll always get the rewards with what he can do. It’s why Ben McNamara and Joe Lovodua went so well playing off him.
“Joey has three tries now, his ball playing was excellent and him and Ben built a great partnership.
“Jake is an exceptional talent – he needs to find some consistency in the game but we need to help him do that as a team by laying the platform for him to get into those positions he does.”
However, the mood at Headingley after the match was subdued with Joe Cator suffering a suspected ruptured Achilles on the night he made his long-awaited return from the same injury.
“It’s an Achilles injury for Joe – we’re all gutted. It’s hard to enjoy a night like this when that happens to one of your own.
“The cornering thing is the injuries, and it’s concerning that we were put in this position with such a short turnaround. We’re doing a lot for player welfare around yellow cards, but then we expect them to turnaround and perform again with no training in the week between games. It’s bittersweet.
Elsewhere on the injury from, Hodgson added: “Kane Evans’ calf tightened up at the back end of his second stint and we didn’t want to risk putting him back on. It was the same with Jamie Shaul – that comes from playing two games in such a short space of time.
“Chris Satae is okay – it was just a bit of tightness and cramp, we was worried it was his hamstring.
“The number of injuries we’re picking up is a concern. We’ll continue to look at what we’re doing, but hopefully this will be the end of our bad run of injuries.”
Looking ahead to next week, he continued: “Manu Ma’u should be ready to go next week. We’re expecting to have Carlos Tuimavave and Darnell McIntosh back the following week for the cup.”
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