'It'd mean the world': Leeds Rhinos' wheelchair side on brink of Grand Final glory - again

Rhinos will complete a double-treble if they beat fierce rivals Halifax Panthers in Saturday’s Betfred Super League Grand Final at Manchester Basketball Centre.

Having lifted the Challenge Cup, finished top of the table and won the Grand Final in 2021, Rhinos are two-third of the way to retaining all those trophies and Simpson insisted another treble would “mean the world to us”.

He said. “It is hard to retain any trophy, I have realised that being a coach and a player.

“It has been a lot trickier than I thought it would be. Last year in the Challenge Cup final we played Argonauts and the game wasn’t one-sided, but we kind of ran away with it in the end.

“This year, Catalans was an absolute battle. Every trophy this year has gone right to the wire so winning it this year would definitely mean more, because we have had to fight harder for everything.”

Simpson admitted being the team everyone wants to beat took its toll early in the campaign, before a change in attitude turned things around.

He recalled: “We put a bit too much pressure on ourselves at the beginning of the year by building it up as wanting to defend the treble.

“We didn’t produce the games we wanted to so we kind of stepped away from it all and decided to have fun, take one game at a time and not think about trebles and things like that.

“We are playing a lot freer now and just seeing what happens. Everyone’s buzzing for it, we are all relaxed and looking forward to it.”

The whole campaign has been geared towards this autumn’s World Cup and Simpson feels that has made it harder than ever.

“It has been a really tough season on purpose, to get the international players up to scratch,” he said.

“We won the league leaders’ in the last game of the year and won the Challenge Cup by having to put on a 10 out of 10 performance to beat Catalans.

“Nothing has come easy this year, so we want a challenge, we expect a challenge and we are definitely going to get one this weekend. We have got our eight regular players and we are ready to roll.”

Halifax are Rhinos’ fiercest rivals and the sides will be meeting for the fourth time in a Grand Final, with Panthers having the upper hand with two victories so far.

Simpson, though, reckons Rhinos’ recent “big-game experience” will stand them in good stead.

“We know not to get too excited,” he said. “Finals are different to league games, the way you’ve got to play.

“We won’t be getting too giddy, we will be trying to replicate the Challenge Cup style of playing where we wait for our chances and make sure we take them, instead of trying to be a bit more flamboyant.”