Kruise Leeming column: 'Leeds Rhinos will be back better and stronger next year'

Disappointed doesn’t begin to sum up how I feel about losing in a Grand Final, but I’m also optimistic. I know we will be back better and stronger next year.

If someone had said all those months ago we’d get to Old Trafford and experience playing in front of so many Leeds fans, I’d have snapped their hand off, but because we got there and did it in such great fashion, we had the belief we could win that game

I still believe if a couple of things had gone our way we would have won it so while it hurts and will do for a long time, I am feeling very positive about next year.

We were stabbing in the dark at the start of this season and towards the middle of it, but now Rohan Smith has got a grip of us and the way he has turned us around in such a short space of time, who knows what he can do with a pre-season and a full year as coach?

We showed what we are capable of when we went to Catalans and Wigan in the play-offs and won and that’s the frustrating thing about what happened at the start of the year, when things were going so badly.

We have always had that in us, we have always had the capability to turn up at places like Catalans and Wigan and beat them, but we just weren’t getting the job done on the field.

It has been a real journey, we have done it the hard way and if we’d won last Saturday it would have gone down in history as the best Grand Final victory ever.

This year has taught us a lot and as captain, I have learned some really valuable lessons. I think the big one is when you’re struggling and down in the dumps, it’s not as bad as it seems; you are just a couple of games away from flipping things around and going on a long winning streak.

That’s a lesson we’ll all take and benefit from in the future. We are still a work in progress as a team and that’s exciting. We had some young lads, 21, 22, 23, playing at the weekend who have only a handful of games under their belt and now they have the experience of being in a Grand Final, at Old Trafford in front of 60,000 fans.

We talk about the golden generation and what they did. The reason they were so successful is they came through together, as mates. Now we’ve got the likes of Morgan Gannon, Jarrod O’Connor and Sam Walters - as well as Jack Sinfield, Liam Tindall and Max Simpson who weren’t in the team last weekend - and they have all come up through the ranks together, they are mates and that’s the most exciting part.

The academy won their Grand Final at Saints last Sunday, after finishing second in the league on points difference and that shows there’s more talent knocking on the door, waiting for a first team chance.

I want to congratulate them on their victory, as well as the women who won their Grand Final the week before and wish the wheelchair side all the best for their title match this week.

Personally, I feel like I have played pretty well this year and had decent form. It has been a bit strange coming off the bench at the back end of the year, but it was working, it was what the team needed and as a captain, that is first and foremost.

You put your hand up to do what’s right for the team. I never moaned, I just got on with the job. I feel like I am still learning and there’s a lot of improvement in me.

Finally, I want to thank you, our fans, for your support, not just at Old Trafford, but all season. Even when things were going badly, you were right behind us. In recent weeks we’ve given you something to scream about and to get excited about and that’s our job, but there’s been so many games we wouldn’t have won without you.

I won the coin toss on Saturday and chose to play towards the Leeds end in the second half because I knew if it was close, you’d bring us home.

You are brilliant, the best fans in the world. Thanks for sticking with us and we’ll see you all again next year.