Leeds Rhinos 32 Catalans Dragons 22: Rohan Smith's side click into gear in stunning comeback

The clash with the unbeaten Catalans Dragons had everything: silky skills, scintillating tries and controversial calls thrown in for good measure.

Leeds played their part in a breathless first half but appeared to be down and out after going into the break 22-8 behind.

The Rhinos had not read the script, scoring 24 unanswered points to give their stuttering season lift-off.

It was Rohan Smith's side at their best, the team that stunned the rest of Super League on their way to the Grand Final in 2022.

Blake Austin was in inspired form and even a rare off day from the tee by Rhyse Martin could not deny Leeds a memorable victory.

A bumper Headingley crowd was treated to rich entertainment in an action-packed encounter in front of a national audience on Channel 4.

For all their energy and enterprise, the Rhinos gave themselves a mountain to climb after paying the price for costly errors in the first half.

Harry Newman, who went on to score two tries, failed to take in a kick down by his ankles just short of the line, Zane Tetevano had a try ruled out for an avoidable forward pass and Martin threw a wild offload close to his own line.

For a while, it looked like those mistakes would cost the Rhinos the match against a composed and clinical Dragons outfit.

Steve McNamara's side took the first chance that came their way just four minutes in, Tom Davies showing superb athleticism to touch down in the corner.

The Dragons held the best defensive record in the competition going into the game but Leeds had them scurrying during a frenetic period.

Their adventurous side came out when Austin found Martin with a daring cross-field kick close to his own line.

All of a sudden, Leeds were on the front foot and Catalans could not keep them out, Newman going over from Cameron Smith's superb long pass.

Martin sent the first of five missed conversions wide but he was soon celebrating a try of his own thanks to an inspired piece of play.

After seeing Austin's bomb take a wicked bounce, Martin gathered the ball and kicked ahead for himself before catching Arthur Mourgue napping to touch down.

When Adam Keighran kicked the restart out on the full, the Rhinos could have been forgiven for thinking they had their visitors right where they wanted them.

But after Macdonald narrowly failed to pull off a miraculous finish in the corner and Newman spurned a tough chance from Aidan Sezer's neat dab through, the Dragons took a firm grip on the contest.

Keighran stormed over from Tyrone May's defence-splitting pass at the end of a strong set before Mitchell Pearce benefited from a controversial video referee decision amid calls for a double movement.

Pearce's try was improved by Keighran to make it 16-8 but back came Leeds.

The Rhinos thought they had pulled one back when Tetevano went over, only for the back-rower to be pulled back for a forward pass by Richie Myler.

With Catalans short on numbers on their right edge, it had to go down as a bombed try.

When the Dragons went down the other end to score through Paul Seguier on the back of an ill-advised offload by Martin, that appeared to be that.

Leeds could have gone into damage limitation mode after Newman was sin-binned for dissent but they burst into life in sensational fashion, aided by an injury to influential Catalans half-back May.

Myler finished from Sezer's offload to give Leeds hope following a storming run by Austin and Jarrod O'Connor went over from dummy-half to make it two tries with 12 men.

Newman had a try ruled out for a foot in touch on his return but the Rhinos were soon celebrating their fifth, substitute Derrell Olpherts flying down the wing to score following a turnover near halfway.

A fifth Martin miss left Leeds trailing by two points but the momentum was irreversible with the Dragons out on their feet.

Austin was the architect of the try that completed the comeback, the half-back nailing a 40/20 before sending Tom Holroyd over with a flat pass.

Sezer took over the kicking duties and duly nailed the conversion to make it 26-22.

As Catalans tried to mount a response of their own, Myler came up with a lung-busting kick return and Newman did the rest.

The last word went to Martin who raised his arms aloft in ironic fashion after finding his kicking boots to add the extras.

Leeds Rhinos: Myler, Fusitu'a, Newman, Martin, Macdonald, Austin, Sezer, Walters, O'Connor, Holroyd, McDonnell, Tetevano, Smith. Substitutes: Johnson, Olpherts, Lisone, Sangare.

Catalans Dragons: Mourgue, Davies, Keighran, Romano, Johnstone, May, Pearce, McMeeken, McIlorum, Bousquet, Ma'u, Whitley, Garcia. Substiutes: Da Costa, Goudemand, Dezaria, Seguier.

Referee: Liam Moore.