'Starting to hit our straps': Leeds Tykes warming to life in National One with most complete performance

The National Two North champions suffered a tough baptism to life in the division above, losing all five of their opening block of fixtures.

But they refused to let the rot set in and by sticking to their principles, have turned the ship around, winning three of the next five games primarily against teams around them at the bottom of the league.

While important to continue doing that, Lucock sees no reason why that should be the limit of their ambitions.

“Obviously you want to win games against those around you but I’m really excited about the second half of the season now,” he said.

“With this group, given where we’re at, I think we can take some scalps. It’s been a two-year cycle with these players, it was always a case of showing a bit of patience and giving them time to understand the league and we’re getting the rewards for that now.

“We don’t change the way we play from week to week so when we do get injuries, those coming in know the system and the job required of them.

“When the games get tough, everyone knows their job and their role. That’s where we are at as a group at the minute - anyone who comes in we know we can rely on.

“There’s a big focus on taking it week by week and I honestly believe that on our day we can beat any team in this league.”

Saturday’s win over Dings Crusaders at the Sycamores underlined that belief. In the last month Dings had ended Rotherham Titans’ unbeaten start to the season, and had Leeds not won on Saturday they would have been bottom of the league. Instead, they climbed above Dings to fourth-bottom.

“It was a really good victory, as complete a performance as we have had,” said Lucock.

“We’ve been chasing that performance for a while and everything clicked into place.

"Given the conditions, I felt we played some of our best rugby and you could just see the lads’ confidence grow. We’re starting to hit our straps.”