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Leeds Rhinos delivered another emphatic statement of their Super League title credentials at an opportune moment as they dispatched the defending champions Hull KR with ease on a poignant night at AMT Headingley.

The Rhinos’ annual MND awareness fixture saw the life of the great Rob Burrow celebrated at the venue where he established himself as one of Super League and Leeds’ all-time great players. This was a performance he would have been undeniably proud of as the Rhinos offered further evidence their nine-year wait for a league title could end later this season.

Incredibly, Leeds have not been crowned Super League champions since victory in the 2017 Grand Final, which was Burrow’s final match as a player. There is still a long way to go this season but Brad Arthur’s side look every inch title contenders after proving far too strong for Rovers yet again.

Willie Peters’ side were humiliated 58-6 when the two sides met in Las Vegas at the start of the season and while this scoreline was not quite as one-sided, this was still a crushing evening for Rovers. Second best in every department, they were comprehensively outplayed by a Leeds side led expertly by Jake Connor –who again showcased why he should be central to England’s plans at this autumn’s World Cup.

Rovers, without several key first-team players going into the contest, were dealt a further blow inside the opening five minutes when influential forward Dean Hadley was ruled out after clashing heads with team-mate, Tom Amone.

That physical collision, albeit accidental, was a sign of what would follow throughout most of an opening 40 minutes filled with aggression from two of Super League’s top sides. It was indiscipline which led to all the points inside the first half-hour, with Leeds and Hull KR exchanging penalties to make it 2-2, before Connor kicked a second to nudge the hosts ahead.

It looked increasingly like we would get to half-time without a try being scored. Hull KR, to their credit, were defending superbly without so many regulars but as the break approached, Leeds upped the intensity and the Robins were simply unable to live with it.

And just has been the case for most of this season, it was Jake Connor who was at the heart of everything the Rhinos did well. When the hosts forced a repeat set on the Hull KR line, Leeds held their nerve and Connor provided the pinpoint kick for Chris Hankinson to touch down, before the scrum-half converted from wide to open up an eight-point lead.

Two minutes later, that lead would grow further. Connor, this time produced a superb looping pass that gave Maika Sivo a walk-in for his 26th Super League try of the season. Incredibly, that is already more than Lewis Martin’s tally of 25 for Hull, which was the highest throughout the whole of last year.

Rovers, in a manner rarely seen across the last 18 months, had fallen apart. There would be more damage dealt before the break too, as Rhyse Martin was sin-binned for a professional foul as the half-time hooter sounded and Connor stepped up to kick the penalty from long range. In the space of ten minutes, Leeds had transformed a two-point lead into a 16-point advantage.

Trailing 18-2, Hull KR had to score first after the break. But with Martin in the sin-bin, Rovers were immediately put on the back foot after they let Lachie Miller’s kick-off roll dead. And from that passage of play, Leeds picked the Robins apart again as a Connor kick was patted back before Sivo created the space for his second of the night, and 27th of the season.

It was now rapidly entering damage limitation territory for the Robins. Back-to-back penalties afforded them a rare foray into Leeds territory and they took advantage as Tyrone May’s cut-out pass found Noah Booth but a minute later, Rovers dropped the ball in their own half and Connor reacted quickest to race home unchallenged and restore Leeds’ four-try lead.

The only blot on Leeds’ evening was Connor being taken off as an injury precaution when he was hit late after again assisting a late Rhinos try for Ash Handley to make it 34-8. But he had done more than enough damage prior to that.