Leeds Rhinos 40 Warrington Wolves 0 - Matt Parcell lands treble as Leeds turn on style
The Australian hooker joined the Rhinos from NRL club Manly in the off-season and has been the driving force behind Leeds’s much-improved campaign.
Parcell’s 14th-minute opener and Liam Sutcliffe’s try and two goals put Leeds in charge against Warrington Wolves at the end of a scrappy first half.
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Hide AdThe No 9 added his second try just after the restart and then completed his hat-trick after Jamie Jones-Buchanan and Joel Moon had crossed.
Rob Burrow went over for a deserved try in the final few minutes as Leeds moved eight points clear of one of their traditional rivals for the Super League crown.
Leeds had offered little in attack until Tom Briscoe found a gap in the Warrington defence close to halfway and he gave Parcell a simple finish.
The hosts were forced into a reshuffle when Ashton Golding limped off and it was his replacement at full-back who extended Leeds’s lead on 29 minutes.
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Hide AdSutcliffe took Danny McGuire’s pass to ghost over out wide for his fourth try in as many games, but failed to add the extras.
Two points were added by the boot of Sutcliffe after Tom Lineham was penalised in possession.
Acting-half Parcellthen then dummied his way between the posts from close range.
Sutcliffe added a simple conversion to put Leeds 18-0 up against a Warrington side well below their best in attack.
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Hide AdIt was a case of damage limitation for Wolves after Jones-Buchanan took Burrow’s pass to round Stefan Ratchford for his first try of the season.
Warrington’s Gidley hobbled off and the visitors’ frustrations boiled over as Daryl Clark traded punches with Stevie Ward, both players being sin-binned.
Moon picked the ball up from dummy-half and took advantage of more soft defence to extend Leeds’s lead before Sutcliffe added the conversion and a penalty.
Burrow had given the Warrington defence a torrid time after replacing Golding and his break allowed Parcell to complete his treble.
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Hide AdThe half-back had the last word as he raced clear to put the seal on Leeds’s win.
Leeds Rhinos: Golding, Briscoe, Watkins, L. Sutcliffe, Hall, McGuire, Moon, Singleton, Parcell, Cuthbertson, Ferres, Ward, Jones-Buchanan. Substitutes: Burrow, Delaney, Mullally, Baldwinson.
Warrington Wolves: Ratchford, Russell, Hughes, Atkins, Lineham, Brown, Gidley, Hill, Clark, Sims, Jullien, Westerman, Cooper. Substitutes: G. King, Crosby, Patton, Philbin.
Referee: James Child (RFL).