Leeds Rhinos coach Rohan Smith hails Nene Macdonald as Huddersfield Giants blow confirmed

Macdonald is not taking on food or drink during daylight hours in the Islamic holy month but continues to perform, producing a man-of-the-match display on Sunday evening.

"He had a big contribution," said Smith.

"I've watched Nene play a lot of games over the years and he's a difference maker with his ball-carrying.

"He can look tired all the time; he's one of those blokes that can sometimes have some sloppy body language but when the ball is back in his hands again, he's fine.

"It's particularly difficult for him at the moment with the fasting and I respect his life choice and him doing the right thing by his faith.

"The boys back him. He played a strong game against Catalans the other week and again tonight. It shows the other boys that it's power of the mind and not how many calories or litres of water you drink a day."

Just as they did when the Dragons visited Headingley a fortnight earlier, Leeds had to come from behind to claim the two competition points.

Huddersfield stormed into a 12-0 lead but the Rhinos rallied superbly in front of a crowd of 13,234 which took the Easter aggregate to 83,357, a new Super League record for a six-match round.

"There have been some good games over the weekend on telly and it's good for our game to have a spectacle like that to finish it off," said Smith, whose side lost Richie Myler to the sin bin.

"It was a mixed performance for us but resilience was front and centre. We stayed together when it was hard in the first half and found another gear when we had 12 men.

"When we were in front at the end we did enough and they looked like they were enjoying that element of it too which is important."

Giants head coach Ian Watson was left to rue the loss of half-back Oliver Russell to injury before the game after seeing his side lose crucial moments.

"He tore his hammy in training,” said Watson, who was already without Theo Fages.

"We're waiting for a scan but it looks bad. He's still sore which is a good sign because it means the tendon hasn't come off.

"That means our two main controllers are out of the team at the moment.

"When people ask if I'm disheartened or positive, I'm positive because we've not got our full-strength team out by far. Once we get that, I know we'll be flying."