Some memorable moments to savour for Leeds Rhinos at Magic Weekend – Peter Smith

Jordan Tansey may not have had the most illustrious Leeds career of the summer era, but 15 years ago he was at the heart of an incident no Rhinos fan will forget.

Back in 2007, Rhinos’ derby against Bradford Bulls, now mid-table in the Betfred Championship but then one of Super League’s powerhouses, was chosen to close Millennium Magic in Cardiff, the first time a whole round of fixtures had been staged at one venue over successive days.

By any standards, it was an entertaining encounter, featuring 13 tries, including a hat-trick from Leeds’ Brent Webb and Ryan Hall’s Rhinos debut.

Bradford were leading by two in the final seconds when Bulls were penalised, incorrectly as it turned out, for offside.

Kevin Sinfield’s penalty, which would have salvaged a draw, bounced back off the crossbar and Tansey gathered the rebound to score the winner. Cue pandemonium, a wonky cartwheel from a jubilant Sinfield and fury in the Bulls camp.

Replays clearly showed Tansey had been in front of Sinfield when the penalty was taken, therefore offside, but referee Steve Ganson – who had used the video official eight times – awarded the touchdown and Leeds won 42-38.

In the aftermath, Bulls asked Leeds to hand back the two points and threatened legal action. To which Rhinos’ response can be summed up as “ha-ha”.

Rhinos won their first six Magic fixtures, including relatively routine defeats of Bradford in 2008 and Catalans Dragons at Edinburgh’s Murrayfield the following year.

The event returned to Scotland in 2010 and Rhinos were involved in another thriller, this time against Wakefield Trinity Wildcats.

Wakefield were 28-10 ahead late in the first half, but a hat-trick of tries by Ryan Hall got Rhinos back in the game and they sealed a 34-30 victory thanks to Australian superstar Danny Buderus’ late touchdown.

Brian McDermott made his debut as Rhinos coach at the 2011 Magic Weekend in Cardiff, which opened the season.

Bulls were again the opponents and with Keith Senior making his 400th Super League appearance, Rhinos trailed 28-10 with 17 minutes left.

Another dramatic fight back got them to within touching distance and they snatched a 32-28 victory thanks to a controversial late penalty try, awarded by the video referee after Ben Jones-Bishop was tackled off the ball. Bulls weren’t happy that time, either and to make their day worse, their bus broke down on the M4 heading home.

Danny McGuire scored five tries, for the second time in his Leeds career, when Rhinos thumped Bulls 37-22 at Cardiff in 2012, but then the wheels came off.

Leeds were beaten in their next half a dozen Magic games to go from having the event’s best record to its most miserable losing run.

They lost by four points to Wigan Warriors at Manchester in 2013 and 2014, went down against the same opponents at Newcastle in 2015 and were thumped by them 40-8 at the same ground the following year, Leeds’ worst Magic defeat.

This weekend’s opponents Castleford Tigers were next up, winning 29-18 and 38-10 over the next two seasons, both at St James’s Park, but a move to Liverpool brought about a change in fortunes.

Leeds have traditionally been involved in Magic’s biggest fixtures and it was no different at Anfield three years ago.

This time it was a relegation battle and Leeds hung on to defeat London Broncos 24-22.

After no event, because of coronavirus, in 2020, Leeds were involved in yet another thriller last September. Rhinos and Hull were competing for a top-six finish when they met at Newcastle. Leeds staged yet another fightback, the game went into a second period of extra-time and Kruise Leeming’s career first drop goal sealed a 25-24 success.