Sharp is certain young side will heed lesson

Rovers, who finished fourth in the Kingstone Press Championship, restricted Leeds to an 18-6 interval advantage in the opening round of the Qualifiers, but conceded 44 unanswered points after half-time.

The gulf between full-time and part-time teams was obvious in the final 40 minutes, but Sharp said the benefit his young players will gain from facing last year’s treble winners is “immeasurable”.

Said Sharp: “The preparation during the week was of Super League-quality. We’ve been meticulous in our preparations and got the team ready to play and that, aside from playing, has been an experience for some of our younger players.

“Then getting out on the field and knowing how it feels when you carry the ball into a defensive line like Leeds have will only do them good. The experience they’ve got from it will give them some incentive to improve and try and emulate the people we’ve come up against.”

Sharp described Rhinos’ performance as ‘Grand Final’ quality. He added: “They played extremely well, they were outstanding and we weren’t quite as good as we have been, but the things Leeds did to us probably affected how we played. There’s lots and lots of positives to come out of it; the experience itself has been fantastic for the players and the club.”

With Leeds having played down Post Office Road’s slope in the first half, Sharp’s opposite number, Brian McDermott, admitted to having been concerned at the interval. He said: “Certainly in that first 40 minutes, that was as tough as any Super League game we’ve been involved in.

“I was really pleased with how we responded. We had a level of concern at half-time that we weren’t able to put on what we were trying to put on.

“Credit to Featherstone defensively. We were pretty clinical just after half-time and nailed a couple of plays which got us a couple of tries and gave us some breathing space and the game took on a different slant.”