Leeds Rhinos 41 Wakefield Trinity 22: Rohan Smith and Daryl Powell take plenty of positives from annual Boxing Day derby

But that said, both coaches saw positives in Leeds Rhinos’ topsy-turvy 41-22 win over Wakefield Trinity in the Boxing Day Festive Challenge.

Relegated from Super League at the end of last season, Trinity were 16-0 ahead after 14 minutes and 22-6 clear thanks to their fourth try on the stroke of half-time. It was a highly-impressive effort from new coach Daryl Powell’s side, who registered tries by Romain Franco, Matty Ashurst, Max Jowitt and Lachlan Walmsley.

With Jowitt landing two goals and Walmsley converting his 90-metre interception, from a pass by new Rhinos full-back Lachie Miller, Wakefield were in complete command, only for Leeds’ to dominate the final 40.

“I thought in the first half in general we were really good,” said Powell. “The second half was a completely different story, but there was plenty for us to be happy about and plenty to work on, which is generally what you find in these games.”

Powell added: “Overall it would be a really positive game for us where we’ve learned a lot about individual players.

“We’ve seen how good a team we are going to be with a lot of quality players to add in and seen where we need to improve as well, so it’ll give us a really good focus going forward.”

Luis Roberts scored Leeds’ lone try before the interval, but they were level by the 46th minute after Jack Smith, Cameron Smith and Derrell Olpherts all crossed. A second try for Olpherts edged Leeds ahead and Jack Sinfield, who finished with six conversions, booted a drop goal before late tries by Mickael Goudemand and Tom Nicholson-Watton rounded off the hosts’ emphatic second half display.

Leeds coach Rohan Smith admitted it was a “mixed bag” from his new signings, but stressed: “A lot of young kids got good experience against [what was] an experienced Wakefield team for a good portion of the game. It wasn’t without blemish, that’s for sure, but I was happy with the way people stuck together and kept playing and I thought we looked fit and sharp in the main.”

Former Salford hooker Andy Ackers was the pick of Leeds’ off-season recruits and Smith insisted: “In the second half I thought we strung a few sets together and played pretty direct.

“We’ve got a top-end dummy-half who exposed some opportunities on the back of some quality go-forward, so we had a decent little patch there.

“The first half lacked any rhythm at all. There were penalties, turnovers for [incorrect] play-the-balls and no end-to-end footy. As soon as there was a little bit of that, I thought we went all right.”

Leeds Rhinos: Miller, Olpherts, J Smith, Roberts, Handley, J Sinfield, Frawley, Goudemand, Ackers, Sangare, Gannon, McDonnell, C Smith. Subs O’Connor, Edgell, Johnson, Lisone, Littlewood, F McCormack, N McCormack, Lumb, Nicholson-Watton.

Wakefield Trinity: Jowitt, Franco, Thornely, Pratt, Walmsley, Hood, Lawford, Bowden, Doyle, Atoniu, Ashurst, Griffin, Cozza, Subs Uele, Law, Croft, Boothroyd, H Smith, D Sinfield, Stsaveley-Carr, Delaney.

Referee: Tom Grant (Leeds).