5 Things Leigh can take from Dewsbury

At 12–8, at half-time, it looked like we were in for a close encounter, but Leigh finally started to play the rugby we have been accustomed to seeing in the last 12 months.

The second half was huge contrast to the first, which has given Neil Jukes lots of positives to take from the 80 minutes in Yorkshire.

Reliable Ridy

Whether it is the first minute or the last minute, his first match or his 200th, Martyn Ridyard is Mr. Reliable, kicking six out of the seven goals, Ridyard was the governor general of the team yet again.

Ridyard is what every Stand Off in Rugby League should be, even if he lacks the speed, his Rugby brain and Rugby intelligence is second to none.

Route One Rugby

Sometimes, you have to take the direct route to the try line, right? Someone forgot to tell Leigh that. The forwards for Leigh are not only taking in huge drives but, their offloading game is beyond brilliant.

Dayne Weston’s ability to keep the ball alive and Sam Hopkins mobility makes Leigh’s pack a nightmare to defend. Not only are forwards keeping the ball alive they are scoring vital tries as well, Reni Maitua seems to score when Leigh need them the most.

Settled Six and Seven

Three games and the same half back partnership. It is something that always goes unnoticed in rugby but, a settled halfback pairing is the most important thing on the park.

Martyn Ridyard and Ben Reynolds are getting into a position where they know each other’s game inside out. This is allowing the Centurions to play the kind of rugby that every Leyther wants to see.

12 men Triumph

It seems when a team goes down to 12 men teams go into damage limitation mode, make sure they don’t concede until they get their full numbers back. Leigh decided that attack was the best form of defence; Gareth Hock was off the field and Leigh took it up a notch.

It must be good to see, that even when the odds go against you, Leigh are able to produce tries and take control of the match. If Leigh started each match with 12 men who knows what score they could be up by half time.

Sublime Nines

Micky Higham must be the first name on the team sheet every week, and if you watch him play, you can see why. Higham’s game management and sniping runs cause problems for oppositions, his fitness to play 80 minutes means these problems are relentless.

It isn’t a one man show at Leigh though, with Liam Hood and Lewis Foster fighting for position it is bringing out the best in both of them. Against Dewsbury, Hood had a performance which could have been described as Higham-esque, which is high praise if you ask me.