Ash Handley hat trick helps Rhinos to convincing Magic Weekend win
The game was effectively won in the first half as the Rhinos ran in five tries to open up a 30-4 lead.
Last updated 6th Jul 2026
Ash Handley scored a hat-trick of tries as leaders Leeds increased their advantage at the summit to four points with a comfortable 50-16 victory over neighbours Bradford.
The game was effectively won in the first half as the Rhinos ran in five tries to open up a 30-4 lead.
Brodie Croft began the scoring from a Jarrod O’Connor kick and Chris Hankinson claimed their second after showing some impressive football skills.
O’Connor stretched over from dummy half to extend the lead and James McDonnell and Handley added further scores after Caleb Aekins registered for Bradford.
The procession appeared set to continue as Handley found another gap to score again but the Bulls rallied with two sparkling tries in quick succession from Ethan Ryan.
Leeds reasserted their authority as Jake Connor crossed just after the hour-mark and the competition’s top tryscorer Maika Sivo finally got in the act when he claimed his 28th of the season on 72 minutes.
It was the 10th successive match in which Sivo had scored but it was Handley who put the seal on victory when he grabbed his third try in the final minute.
Connor converted seven of Leeds’ nine tries to finish with a personal haul of 18 points.
Leeds coach Brad Arthur said: “I thought we started well and built the game nicely. We probably didn’t finish it off how we wanted to but it’s a been a big month – we’ve been at a high level of intensity for a month.
“We got some things wrong defensively but I don’t want to be over-critical. We’ve got high expectations but that’s how we want to play.”
Bradford boss Kurt Haggerty said: “The first half was very poor. We showed a lack of resilience.
“We had a response in the second half and there was a point where it started to swing a little bit but it wasn’t for long enough. Even when we attacked well there still wasn’t enough resilience. There was effort but not enough quality.”