Defending champions Leeds were in mercilous mood against their arch-rivals, running in eight tries without reply to rack up their biggest margin of victory over Bradford in Super League.

New Zealand full-back Brent Webb scored a hat-trick as the Rhinos kicked off Super League's Easter programme in sparkling fashion to pull four points clear of the chasing pack.

Scrum-half Rob Burrow touched down twice but as pleasing for coach Brian McClennan in his first derby was his side's magnificent defence, which kept a clean sheet for the second successive week in front of a crowd of 19,296 at Headingley.

Already without six regulars through injury, Leeds shrugged off the early loss of prop Kylie Leuluai to cruise to their 10th win in the last 14 meetings with the Bulls, who already find themselves six points behind their neighbours at this early stage in the season.

Leuluai knocked himself out trying to tackle Bradford's former Rhinos forward Chris Feather and the game was held up for seven minutes while the New Zealander had treatment on the pitch before being carried off on a stretcher.

But the disruption had little effect on the Rhinos, who ran in five tries before half-time, four of them in a devastating 17-minute spell.

The visitors had taken the lead with a fourth-minute penalty from captain Paul Deacon but Leeds scored the game's first try when hooker Matt Diskin's grubber kick ricocheted off his opposite number Terry Newton and bounced kindly into the arms of second Jamie Jones-Buchanan.

It was a sure sign that Leeds' luck was in.

Kevin Sinfield, whose scoring run goes back 48 matches, hit the woodwork with the conversion attempt but found the target with the first of four successful goals when Webb scored his first try after 22 minutes, following a neat offload from the skipper.

Bradford, who also went into the game without six first-choice players, were still well in the game at that stage but they were dealt a body blow after 29 minutes when Leeds turned defence into attack in devastating fashion.

Webb demonstrated superb athleticism to halt a Bradford attack on his own line and Jones-Buchanan caught the Bulls napping with quickly-taken tap on the 20-metre line to race clear and send winger Lee Smith over for an 80-metre try.

As if that was not bad enough for Steve McNamara's men, they saw the game slip away completely after conceding two further tries in the last four minutes of the first half.

Great Britain forward Gareth Ellis, once more looking awesome in his old centre role, swooped on a loose ball after Deacon lost possession near his own line and Burrow took advantage of another ricochet to score his 101st try for the club.

Ellis then went past Chris Nero and Matt James as if they did not exist and sent Webb racing away for his second try.

It seemed the harder Bradford tried, the worse it got for them and they went further behind three minutes into the second half after conceding another long-range try.

The Bulls were in an ideal attacking position but Deacon's grubber kick went straight into the hands of Leeds substitute Luke Burgess and he demonstrated quick reactions to get winger Scott Donald away for an 80-metre score, his ninth try of Super League XIII.

Bradford suffered more misery when hooker Terry Newton was placed on report for what appeared to be illegal use of his elbow on Diskin and they were denied a try when Deacon was literally thrown back from the line.

Left winger Semi Tadulala, who had a lively first half, was also thwarted by a last-ditch tackle as Leeds demonstrated a determination to keep their line intact for the second successive week.

Leeds had no such difficulty reaching the line. Burrow dodged and weaved his way past six defenders to notch his second try after 61 minutes and Webb followed up Tansey's kick to complete his hat-trick seven minutes later.