DAVID Furner praised hat-trick hero Jack Walker as the Rhinos claimed their first win of the Super League season with a convincing 46-14 victory over Salford.

Leeds, under new coach Furner, had lost their opening two games of the season at Warrington and Wigan but got off the mark in convincing fashion at the AJ Bell Stadium with 19-year-old full-back Walker in superb form.

The Rhinos ran in eight tries with Walker grabbing three, Konrad Hurrell claiming a brace while Matt Parcell, Ash Handley and Adam Cuthbertson also touched down and Tui Lolohea kicked seven goals.

Furner said: "Jack is still only 19 and is playing in a position that holds a lot of responsibility but his courage is something that has stuck out for me from day one.

"He would admit himself there's still a lot to learn, in particular with being able to organise the defensive line, but today, off the back of last week, showed his maturity in a really good performance."

Furner was delighted to get off the mark as Leeds boss.

"You always like a win, particularly our first win, and there were a lot of good signs and the players and coaches feel there are still improvements to be made," he added.

"I'm really happy for the players and fans, I said from day one we need a team that improves each week either as an individual or the team itself and if we do that we are going to put ourselves in a position to win games

"We've had a tough start and we have a short turnaround again before we face St Helens (on Friday) but we will review this game and note the improvements and see where we can improve and take it into the game next week."

Salford coach Ian Watson hopes his players learn a lesson from the heavy defeat, which ended their unbeaten start to the season.

There had been a positive vibe around the club after wins over Huddersfield and London saw the Red Devils top the table, but they came crashing back down to earth with a heavy home defeat.

Watson said: "We've got to learn our lessons from today. We've not represented ourselves in the best way.

"We wanted to put up a really good showing as a team and build on the experience of last week with a good crowd being here seeing us at our best.

"We failed to do the hard work though and probably wanted to do the easier things and attack more than the defensive side and we need to learn from that going forward.

"Leeds got what they deserved while we failed to dominate any kind of field position and we have to learn a lesson from that."