Kruise Leeming column: 'We deserve to be in Grand Final' says Leeds Rhinos captain

Being there doesn’t mean much until we get the full job done and that’s what we are focusing on this week.

It is really important this week we do stay focused. It won’t be easy, but we need to treat it as just another week and make sure we build on what we have been doing.

We are going to enjoy the week. We’ve got a lot of people who haven’t played at Old Trafford before and these opportunities don’t come around very often, but for me the most important thing is staying focused and getting the job done. Then we can enjoy what comes after that.

We are going to Old Trafford in good form and I think we are confident in what we can do. We have beaten some good teams, but Saints are a fantastic side.

I can’t remember the last time I saw them put in a bad performance and they have got a lot of experience of being there, so we are in for a big challenge.

That’s how it should be and we wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. To be champions you have to beat the best teams.

We haven’t had anything given to us and we will have done it the right way if we do end up winning. In the play-offs we’ve had Catalans away, which is always a huge challenge and then Wigan away, who hadn’t lost on their own ground all year.

Now we’ve got to go and beat Saints, who were top of the league and are the defending champions, so nobody will be able to say we got lucky.

A big crowd at Old Trafford will be different to playing in a Challenge Cup final behind closed doors at Wembley, which he did two years ago, but I am confident we will handle the occasion.

The way we have been building up to it, with all the big games and close games we’ve been in, has helped us.

We have had some good wins in tough circumstances and the system our coach Rohan Smith has brought in is very much based on playing as a team.

Also, I believe we play better in the big games. I don’t know whether that’s a legacy from the previous generation, or the club’s history and the way it’s set up to be successful, but I do think we are better when the pressure is on.

Weeks like this are what I came to Leeds for and it’s massively exciting for me. Leading the boys out at Old Trafford will be unbelievable. I’ve read that only three men have captained Leeds in a Grand Final so to add my name to that list will be special.

But this week is not about me or any other individual, it is about Leeds Rhinos as a club. That comes before anything.

I feel for the boys who are injured and won’t get to play this week. I travel with Morgan Gannon and I spoke to Aidan Sezer after last Friday’s game.

It’s an awful situation for them to be in and obviously they are gutted, but they are fully behind us, they are doing everything they can to help us be successful this week and let’s hope they get another chance, because they both deserve it.

I want to say congratulations to the Rhinos women for winning their Grand Final last week and the wheelchair side, who are through to theirs. Also good luck to the under- 18s who play Saints in the academy one on Sunday.

It’s fantastic to have so many teams reaching the big games and it shows Leeds as a club is heading in the right direction.

I think the fans have played a big part this year and I want to thank them for their support. There’s been some matches we wouldn’t have won without them getting behind us and they have been great all season, even when things weren’t going well.

No matter where we are, when you run out to that, the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. I am sure they will be there in numbers on Saturday and it’s about time we give them something to really scream and shout about.