Leeds Rhinos 34 Crusaders 16: McGuire provides a spark as Leeds build momentum

The England international made his first appearance in almost eight months yesterday when he came off the bench to help deliver his side a second Easter win.

Stand-off McGuire, who underwent a full knee reconstruction last September, played almost 40 minutes as Leeds continued their recent revival, proving too strong for bottom-placed Crusaders.

“It was really good to be out there again,” he said. “It’s been a tough few months and it makes all the hard rehab worthwhile to be able to play with the lads again and the actual buzz of being here at Headingley back on that pitch.

“I was actually a bit taken aback by the reaction I got from the fans; it was pretty amazing and I’m glad to be doing my bit for them and the team again.

“We’ve two important wins now and we’ll look to get another at Castleford on Friday.”

But frustrated Leeds supporters had little to cheer before McGuire’s introduction on 27 minutes. The fare had been low key and low quality, the hosts making too many careless handling errors with their opponents equally ineffective, looking unrecognisable from the side that had stunned leaders Huddersfield Giants on Good Friday.

Aside from a brief altercation between the typically fired-up Richard Moore and Brent Webb and one thundering collision as Ryan Hall shot in from his wing to deny Tony Martin, there was little of note.

Throw in the ubiquitous penalties from referee James Child and it was clear why the game struggled for any continuity; both sides struggled to complete a set and it desperately required an injection of something.

McGuire’s emergence on the touchline alone delivered that and when he entered the pitch – welcomed by a huge ovation from the majority of a 14,165 crowd – he swiftly had Crusaders defenders thinking with his trademark footwork showing no signs of diminishing over the last eight months.

Just three minutes after his introduction, Leeds finally got the game’s first try although all the hard work was down to Brett Delaney.

The Australian centre received Kevin Sinfield’s pass from the base of a scrum, broke a tackle and raced 70 metres and out-paced the advancing full-back Clinton Schifcofske to reach the corner and score for the first time since last July.

Sinfield slotted a touchline conversion and, when Crusaders sailed the restart dead, they quickly added their second.

Rob Burrow, at the heart of all their finest moves, proved the creator with a cleverly-disguised short flat pass which fooled the defence and allowed Carl Ablett to crash over from 10 metres.

There was still time before the interval for McGuire to show his class though, his brilliant tipped-on pass to Ablett as Jason Chan tried charging off the line to cut down the stand-off leading to Keith Senior cutting back in to score their third.

Sinfield converted both to give his side an 18-0 half-time advantage. Brian McDermott’s side, who picked up their first win in four games by defeating Bradford last Thursday, continued where they left off with a powerful start to the second period.

Luke Burgess’s strong carry and off-load unleashed Burrow on a winding run before he found Hall.

Reardon managed to halt the England man but, with the defender still grounded on the floor, Burrow showed outrageous temerity to dummy from acting half and sneak down the shortest of blindsides before diving in at the corner.

Sinfield made it 24-0 but the Wrexham-based outfit responded with a controversial 52nd-minute try. Gareth Thomas had slipped Jordan Tansey clear down the left wing and when he fed the ball back inside to Michael Witt, Brent Webb was adamant he completed a last-ditch tackle to deny the Australian stand-off.

However, Child waved play on and Witt simply off-loaded back to Tansey who eased over for the simplest of tries leaving Sinfield and a bemused Webb in deep discussions with the official.

Debutant winger George Elliott should have marked his Super League bow with a try but the 19-year-old dropped Chris Clarkson’s splendid long pass with the line begging.

Witt did not make the same mistake when he intercepted off Danny Buderus and impressively surged 90 metres evading a host of chasers.

Schifcofske converted and did soon after when Rhys Hanbury accepted another Leeds gift, the scrum-half racing in from 70 metres after intercepting Sinfield’s pass.

But Senior restored order in the 78th minute when he bundled over in the corner for his second and some subtle hands from Webb then put Kylie Leuluai through a gap for a richly-deserved try, the Samoan prop having led Leeds’s forward effort alongside impressive displays from Paul McShane and Clarkson.

McGuire hopes to play again at Castleford when England captain Jamie Peacock could also make his return from major knee surgery.

“I know it’ll be a good few weeks before I get my full sharpness back but that was a good start,” he said. And just what Leeds need as they bid to kick-start their season.

Leeds Rhinos: Webb; Elliott, Delaney, Senior, Hall; Sinfield, Burrow; Leuluai, Buderus, Bailey, Jones-Buchanan, Clarkson, Ablett. Substitutes: McShane, Burgess, Kirke, McGuire.

Crusaders: Schifcofske; Reardon, Martin, Thomas, Tansey; Witt, Hanbury;, O’Hara, White, Moore, Cahill, Johnson, Lupton. Substitutes: Chan, Winterstein, James, Sammut.

Referee: J Child (Dewsbury).