SIMON SMITH: Players have earned their rest weekend

We like to play against the wind if possible, and I thought we did that well in the first half.

Had we gone in at half-time 3-0 down I would have been confident of us turning it around.

But we scored a fantastic try just before the break through Manning Smith after a strong break from Cade Robinson and followed up on that in the second half.

We had to dig deep at times in the second half as we were down to 13 men at one point due to a couple of yellow cards that came out of nothing.

The players looked after the ball well though and we capitalised once we had our full compliment back on the field, finishing strong and scoring some more great tries.

West Leeds had a couple of strong players in their side, but we were in control throughout the game and they never really pressured our line.

I have to say, their players and officials all stayed for a drink and we had a good chat with some of them. West Leeds are a good, old-fashioned rugby union club and I wish them well for the rest of the season.

We have more than earned our rest weekend, and I think it comes at a good time for some of the players.

It is a very long season as a rugby player and you inevitably pick up bumps and bruises along the way.

We will have a rest day Saturday and watch the Ireland v England game that kicks off their Six Nations campaign.

I’m edging towards Wales or Ireland, merely due to them having the better set of away fixtures.