Leeds Rhinos coach Dave Furner says a poor first half cost his team as they were beaten 35-18 by Wakefield on Friday.
After opening the season with four straight away games, Leeds made their grand return to a redeveloped Headingley Stadium but failed to deliver in front of their own fans as they suffered a fourth defeat of the campaign.
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Wakefield winger Tom Johnstone scored a first-half hat-trick as they raced away from their West Yorkshire rivals in the first 40 minutes.
Veteran half-back Danny Brough controlled the game for the away side, ending the contest with 15 points.
Leeds did rally after the break, crossing the whitewash through Ash Handley and Tom Briscoe – the second of the evening for both – but Wakefield mounted a dogged defence to claim the two points.
Having lost four of his five games since taking charge of the Rhinos, Furner says he is still working out his best starting line-up.
The Australian says there is plenty to work on based Friday’s poor showing, highlighting several areas of importance following the final hooter.
“We lacked resilience on our try line, particularly in the first half. That caused us some system breakdowns,” Furner told BBC Sport.
“We re-assessed at half-time and three or four times they were on our line and we actually stopped them. “We had opportunities to get back into the game but we conceded too many points in the first half.”
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