But when playing a side of this undoubted calibre, Hornets worst habits cost them dearly. In NL1, you may be able to get away with coughed posession in key positions, whereas a well drilled Super League side ram your mistakes back down your throat and stick a conversion on it for good measure.

But for all this, it wasn't all bad. Hornets stuck to their gameplan of driving Leeds back downfield and trying to play them in their own half. Indeed, Matt 'Kingpin' Firth's kicking game was as good as we've seen it - though his long passes still leave recipients in doubt.

Hornets gave Leeds way too much ball and the Rhino's were able to build the sort of momentum that has far better sides than Hornets chasing shadows.

But for half an hour, there was little to choose between the teams. Leeds' sheer pace caught Hornets cold when the ball was whipped wide after just three minutes and Smith's grubber found no-one at home. Williams touched down.

Shellshocked, Hornets strove to regroup, but on Leeds next foray, a dubious speculator from Poching caught Hornets defence flat-footed; Wiliams again the beneficiary. Hornets dug in. For 20 minutes they frustrated and flattened wave after wave of Leeds atttacks. Indeed, they were reduced to impotent kicks into space to gain field position.

The introduction of Stormin' Paul Norman added further steel to the line and he banged the Leeds pack back in the tackle time and again. Having spent pretty much the whole of the first 30 minutes with no meaningful possession, the long stints of heavy defensive work took their toll at the back end of the half.

Milard took advantage of tired tackling to touch down; Donald looked suspiciously offside as he gathered a kick to score; and the pass to Ablett looked forward. But Mr Taberner - and the pitiful Leeds turnout - were happy with all of them.

Half time, 26-nil - despite the fact that Hornets were actually playing quite well.

The second half looked much like the first: Hornets gifting Leeds cheap possession; Leeds taking full advantage and getting a roll on; Hornets spending most of the time on defensive duties; Leeds taking advantage of a tiring defence.

But Hornets did get over the whitewash on the hour: a firth grubber pounced on by Varkulis, Mr Taberner quick to blow for offside. Disappointing given his liberal interpretation of 50-50s in Leeds' favour. But there you go.

Final score 66-nil - and Hornets disappointed, but not disgraced.

Most disappointiing was the announcement of an attendance of 4,700. Given that the previous week there'd been 17,000 for the Hull game, there's no possible way that there was space for 13,000 more people. The most conservative estimates from the Leeds fans we spoke to afterwards suggested a more realistic attendance around the 6-7,000 mark.

Finally, a word of commendation for the travelling Hornets fans. They gave their all for 80 minutes - without the aid of a band and a drum - and showed their huge appreciation to their heroes at the final hooter.

Ultimately, there were huge lessons to be learned from this game: not least, that if you play a team in their own half and value possession, you become very hard to break down. If every player improves his game just 5% on the back of this consummmate lesson in league, we'll have gained much more than a financial reward.