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Inside RL: Backbone behind Leeds Rhinos rise to the top
SPECIAL TALENT: Skipper Kevin Sinfield, pictured in action against Manly, is one of the many players who have come through the ranks at Leeds Rhinos. PIC: Steve Riding
Ten years ago today Leeds Rhinos were reflecting on the previous evening’s 44-4 home win over lower division side Hull KR, which had secured a place in the Challenge Cup quarter-finals.
Aussie Ben Walker – brought in to replace Iestyn Harris following his move to rugby union – had kicked six goals to go with tries by Chev Walker (2), Keith Senior (2), Marcus St Hilaire, Mark Calderwood, Kevin Sinfield and Rob Burrow.
Next up for Leeds were London Broncos – a game in which Andy Hay touched down four times – in their opening Super League fixture on March 3 (the date of this year’s round four).
They were then crushed 38-6 at Hull in their first away game, before a 46-10 home cup success against Wakefield Trinity Wildcats.
After that the season fell into a familiar pattern. Rhinos reached the cup semi-finals, as they usually did and slumped to an humiliating 42-16 defeat to St Helens.
Thrashing
In the league they finished a respectable fourth, behind St Helens, Bradford and Wigan, with a record of 17 wins and 11 defeats.
After beating Hull at home in the opening round of the play-offs, Leeds’ season ended in a 41-18 thrashing at Wigan.
it was a routine season for one of, not just rugby league’s, but British sport’s great under-achievers.
Leeds’ last trophy had been at Wembley three years earlier and it was 30 years since their previous Championship win. Most diehard fans had probably given up hope of seeing Leeds ever crowned champions again.
Anyone a decade ago who had predicted that in 2012 Leeds would be celebrating a record-equalling third World Club Challenge triumph, after five Super League Grand Final wins in the previous eight years would have been whisked away by men in white coats.
The transformation at Headingley Carnegie in the space of 10 years has been truly astonishing, but perhaps, if you look closely enough, there were signs of it back in 2002.
The previous campaign had been an injury-ravaged one, but a number of young players, including Burrow, Danny McGuire, Matt Diskin and Jamie Jones-Buchanan, had begun to emerge as potential first-team stalwarts. They were to become the backbone of the side over the forthcoming successful seasons as Rhinos’ youth policy finally started to pay off.
Burrow, McGuire and Jones-Buchanan – along with Sinfield, another survivor from 2002 – were key men in last Friday’s world title conquering of Manly Sea Eagles.
Ignoring the various Grand Final successes, last weekend was up there with the cup win over Bradford at Valley Parade, the 12-man 1998 cup victory against Wigan and last year’s epic play-off downing of Warrington Wolves as one of Rhinos’ most memorable modern triumphs.
As this column noted last week, there have been more important matches at Headingley over the years, but surely few such passionate and uplifting evenings. It was a vindication of everything Rhinos have done as a club over the past decade.
The decision to stage the tie at Headingley certainly paid off. Judging by the chants of “We hate Rhinos” coming from the South Stand a couple of hours before kick off, not everybody in the 21,000 crowd turned up to support Leeds.
But the atmosphere produced was unique and inspirational and it did visibly lift the players, particularly at times during the second half when they were defending grimly on their own line.
At one stage, when Leeds conceded a series of penalties deep in their territory, the response was not the usual moaning and groaning at the referee, but instead a roar of defiance which did credit to everyone who paid good money to be there.
Rhinos’ win restored credibility to the competition and to Super League and will make an expanded World Club Challenge a real possibility. That would have been a non-starter had Rhinos lost last Friday.
Leeds finished fifth in Super League last year, remember, which suggests England has a number of teams which could compete with the NRL’s best.
Rusty
Leeds played well and – here’s the thing – Manly gave a decent account of themselves, under the circumstances. They were obviously rusty, but there was no question of them not being up for the game.
The visitors gave it their best shot, unlike some Aussie sides in the past and that makes Rhinos’ win all the more creditable.
There have been the usual complaints from Australia: Manly are still in pre-season, they hadn’t played a warm-up match, were on the wrong end of some dubious decisions and had to concede home advantage.
All valid, but Manly had known about the fixture since last October and it was their choice to arrive late and not have a practice game, so that’s no excuse.
Rhinos were perfectly willing – keen even – to play in Australia and as for the referee, Ashley Klein is an Aussie. Warrington Wolves beat South Sydney on the Aussies’ home patch in a pre-season game a few weeks ago, so it can be done.
Rhinos’ third world title win was achieved with a team including only three overseas players. Nine were from Leeds, two from the Wakefield district and one each from Oldham, Manchester and Oxford.
And it is a side with the potential to get better. Thought will soon have to be given to replacing the irreplaceable Jamie Peacock, Kylie Leuluai is in his final season and Brent Webb has also reached the veteran stage.
But there’s a few years left in the likes of Sinfield, Burrow, McGuire and Jones-Buchanan and others – including Carl Ablett and Chris Clarkson – are now vastly experienced, but still improving.
Leeds’ young outside-backs should be the envy of clubs in both hemispheres. It has been obvious for a while that Ryan Hall is a special talent, Ben Jones-Bishop is already an England squad member and Zak Hardaker and Kallum Watkins have the potential to achieve anything they want.
And there’s others coming through. Brad Singleton has made one substitute appearance in Super League, while Stevie Ward and Liam Hood have yet to feature. All three have a very big future.
And watch out for Jordan Baldwinson and Liam Sutcliffe in a few seasons’ time.
In the shorter term, the World Club Challenge victory will stand Rhinos in good stead for the season, though Sunday’s trip to Widnes Vikings will be an interesting test of their professionalism.
Back in 2008, Leeds lost at rock-bottom Castleford Tigers in their first Super League game after the World Club Challenge win over Melbourne Storm.
The difference this time is that Leeds have more than a full week to prepare and are hungry to prove a point after last year’s fifth place league finish.
Now the Manly game is out of the way, the focus is very much on a top-two finish in Super League. The unfortunate thing from the English club’s point of view is that they will face very few matches this year which will equal the intensity of last Friday’s clash, while Manly will have to be at that level most weeks.
Rhinos deserve to bask in the glory, but there is a warning from a decade ago. In 2002 Bradford Bulls beat Newcastle Knights to win their first world title – and look where they are now.
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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Phil G
Tuesday, March 13, 2012 at 02:02 PMPaul Caddick and Gary Hetherington take a bow. They've brought the club from the edge of relegation and financial troubles to where we are now. ... AND they've managed to maintain the progress as players and coaches have come and gone during the last 15+ years. Sure they reap the financial benefits of running a great club but these guys have done a great job nonetheless.
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