• Published26 July 2026, 16:56 BST

Tries: McDonnell 2, O'Connor, Holroyd, Croft, Jenkins, Watkins Goals: Connor 7

Tries: Armitage, Ryan Goals: Hooley 2

Leeds Rhinos moved two points clear at the top of Super League following a comfortable victory over Yorkshire rivals Bradford Bulls at Headingley.

James McDonnell scored twice on his 100th Super League appearance for the Rhinos, who bounced back impressively after their surprise defeat to Castleford Tigers last Sunday.

But the Rhinos, who scored seven tries in total, were dealt a blow in the first half when the league's top try scorer Maika Sivo was taken off with a suspected broken forearm arm, which head coach Brad Arthur said could put him on the sidelines for six to eight weeks.

Struggling Bradford, who took the lead through Guy Armitage's try, slipped to a sixth defeat in seven Super League matches.

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      The Bulls broke the deadlock in the ninth minute when left edge centre Armitage superbly reached Chris Atkin's deft grubber kick and touched down just within the field of play.

      Leeds were then dealt with a major setback as their 29-try wing Sivo picked up an injury when making a tackle on the halfway line and was seen with his right arm in a sling at the end of the game.

      The hosts did not let that moment affect them, however, and McDonnell was alert to intercept a pass from Atkin to race clear inside his own half to dive over.

      Three minutes after Jake Connor had a try chalked off for a double movement, the Leeds stand-off was in the thick of the action once more, firing a pass out to Kallum Watkins as McDonnell dotted down a simple second try on the right wing.

      Rhinos half-back Brodie Croft then weaved in field and presented Jarrod O'Connor with the opportunity to dart through a gap and dive over just to the left of the sticks. Connor slotted the conversion to give the hosts a 12-point lead at the break.

      Jake Connor ended the match with a 100% record with the boot

      The Bulls were briefly back in the contest within five minutes of the restart when Ethan Ryan caught Riley Dean's up-and-under, found Atkin and then received the return pass to dive over for a superb score on his 200th career appearance.

      That proved to be only short respite for the Bulls as moments later Tom Holroyd took advantage of Connor's superb 40-20 kick to barge over from close range to help re-establish Leeds' 12-point advantage.

      The Bulls were caught out in the back field when Connor's high kick was not collected by Connor Wynne and Croft pounced to dive over for Leeds' fifth try of the match.

      Leeds scored once more on the hour mark when Cooper Jenkins broke through Eliot Peposhi's attempted tackle to dive over on the attacking right edge.

      Bradford's day was summed up when Armitage intercepted a pass from Lachie Miller but Ryan knocked on at the vital moment when he threatened to race to the Leeds line.

      More magic from Connor then saw Watkins stroll in for another try and Connor slotted the extras to make it seven from seven with the boot.

      Leeds Rhinos coach Brad Arthur told BBC Radio Leeds after full-time:

      "I was really happy with how courageous we were. I thought we were pretty resilient.

      "We could probably play with a little bit more control at times. I felt like we left a few points out there but at least we were able to defend this week."

      Bradford Bulls coach Kurt Haggerty told BBC Radio Leeds:

      "I feel like we gifted Leeds a lot of what they got in the game. Ultimately, if you keep turning the ball over you're going to get hurt at this level, especially against a very good team.

      "I think it was individual errors. It's just those little moments of concentration that get us at the moment.

      "I have to look at it and think, 'what do we need?' Can we stay away from going into the loan market, which I'm really proud that we have done so far as a club."

      Leeds: Miller; Edgell, Newman, Bird, Sivo; Croft, Connor; Oledzki, O'Connor, Jenkins, Littlewood, McDonnell, Watkins.

      Interchanges: C. Smith, Nicholson-Watton, Cassell, Holroyd.

      Bradford: Aekins; Wynne, Armitage, Hooley, Ryan; Nikorima, Atkin; Sutton, Ackers, Ormondroyd, Steinwede, Fulton, Mellor.

      Interchanges: Dean, Gardiner, Scurr, Peposhi.

      Referee: Aaron Moore.