Leeds Rhinos fans' Jury 'gutted but proud' after Grand Final defeat

The 24-12 loss was tough to take, but our panel have all paid tribute to the advances made since Rohan Smith took over as coach in May and are feeling confident about what might happen next season.

KENDLE HARDISTY

It was just one game too many for the lads in blue and amber.

Congratulations to St Helens. They have been the standout team all season and they thoroughly deserved the win on the night.

Jonny Lomax ran the game and I’m very excited to see him in an England shirt against the best in the world.

On reflection of the game, the lads didn’t do much wrong. However, when they made mistakes, the Saints capitalised and their quality just shone through.

One thing you can say about the game, the lads never stopped plugging away and just having a go.

You did believe when Kruise Leeming went over just before half-time that we could come out and keep the momentum but Saints were up for it.

I’m not sure how much a difference Aidan Sezer would have made, but we looked like we needed that extra quality at times.

Considering where we were a few months ago, the lads and the staff at the club can be very proud of what they have achieved and being in a Grand Final itself is remarkable.

OLIVER LIMON

Well that was the end of a rollercoaster season.

It was fantastic to roar the players on to the field pre-match at Old Trafford and great to see them as excited as us.

Saints finally broke their duck against Leeds in Grand Finals. They couldn't have started better, with an early try. The lead then stretched to 12-0 and we were in danger of being over-run.

Credit to Leeds’ defence who held firm for the rest of the half. It was amazing to pull a try back through Kruise Leeming on the cusp of half time.

In the second stanza, despite Leeds showing ingenuity in attack and freely throwing the ball about, it just wasn't to be.

Saints got two more tries and although we managed another through Rhyse Martin, we couldn't bridge the gap. I thought Zak Hardaker, Martin and Zane Tetevano played brilliantly.

No one wants to see their team lose in Grand Finals, however the future looks bright for the Loiners.

Rohan Smith has worked miracles turning our fortunes round quickly. It's exciting to anticipate what he can do with a full pre-season with his own players. Keep the faith.

IAIN SHARP

Those Government scientists, the ones last week that were looking into the magical properties of Rohan Smith’s hat, were diverted this week into investigating a strange new substance.

Codenamed “Sentellins”, the material is said to have remarkable properties making it even more non-stick than Teflon.

And so to Old Trafford for the Grand Final. The RFL threw the keys to the biggest game of the season to Liam Moore, who decided to control the game with his own unique interpretation of the laws, including scant regard for offsides, clearing the ruck and the advantage rule.

Displaying the sort of numerical dexterity that could land you the role of Chancellor of the Exchequer these days, his interpretation of 10 was anything between six and 14 on the night.

Saints were probably the better side, but had crucial calls gone Leeds’ way, the game would certainly have been a closer encounter. We can be justly proud of the efforts of the team during Saturday’s game.

The fact is, Leeds are back. A full pre-season under Rohan Smith, sorting out some of the ‘dead wood’ and an injection of a few new faces, means that there’s plenty to be positive about in the seasons to come.

JOSH MORROW

Congratulations to Saints for finally beating Leeds in a final.

Saints was just one game too far, but I couldn't be prouder of the effort of everyone at the club since Rohan Smith joined.

They have the makings of a very good team, with the right team spirit mixed in, after coming from what was a dark place.

I'm hoping they can find the cap space for Zak Hardaker who is a massive reason why we made the final.

For me, he would be getting the number one or four shirt. He's a top class player anywhere in the backs, which is huge in a salary-capped sport.

To the players who are moving on, thank you for the effort and time you've put in at the club.

I can't wait until the season gets going again, it’ll be good to have a full pre-season under Smith for the current squad mixed in with the impressive confirmed and rumoured signings. Leeds will be very dangerous next season and they will need to be as there looks to be seven or eight play-off contenders.

TOM RHODES

Well, that wasn’t the ending we were hoping for at the Theatre of Dreams. St Helens were too good against us in their attack, constantly pressuring us and not tiring out.

It didn’t help either that Morgan Knowles and Jack Welsby, St Helens’ main players, should have been banned, but weren’t.That was a case of the RFL being as consistent as always with their judgements.

However, back In April we were second from bottom of the table, two points ahead of Toulouse Olympique thinking to ourselves could it happen, could the mighty Leeds

Rhinos get relegated to the Championship?

Then came the announcement Richard Agar was resigning from his position and JJB taking charge for two games, before Rohan Smith arrived with not much known about him other than a household second name.

Since then, we crawled back to get to fifth in the table and reached the Grand Final with the same squad and same backroom staff. I think all Rhinos fans, like me, are proud of this squad, regardless of Saturday’s scoreline. Full credit to Rohan Smith for getting us back there after so many years of being absent.

KHYA GOTT

A couple of months ago I could not have predicted the season would end how it did. To go from where we did at the end of Richard Agar’s tenure to the Grand Final is a great achievement in such a short space of time.

I can’t lie, I was gutted we didn’t go all the way; the momentum was on our side, I was optimistic and we fell short. However, it was falling short to a better team on the day.

I don’t want to get too much into Morgan Knowles being allowed to play on Saturday, but it felt like his ban being reversed and the John Bateman loophole is the RFL protecting English players ahead of the World Cup, rather than protecting the integrity of the sport.

Moving on, as I say, we were beaten by the better side on Saturday. It’s a shame that in the opening stages of the game we conceded and then play was wrongfully brought back when Briscoe could have scored a sensational try, but either way, I’m proud of this Rhinos side for making the final in the first place.