YEP Jury 2020 Review - Why Leeds Rhinos’ heroes give us reasons to be cheerful

THE SEASON may not have ended the way they would have wanted, but Leeds Rhinos’ fans, on the whole, can reflect on a unique 2020 season, with plenty to admire.
Leeds Rhinos celebrate with the Challenge Cup trophy after beating Salford Red Devils at Wembley Picture: Mike Egerton/PALeeds Rhinos celebrate with the Challenge Cup trophy after beating Salford Red Devils at Wembley Picture: Mike Egerton/PA
Leeds Rhinos celebrate with the Challenge Cup trophy after beating Salford Red Devils at Wembley Picture: Mike Egerton/PA

A 14th Challenge Cup, a fifth-placed finish and the emergence of a number of youngsters whose progression offers hope for an even brighter future. Our YEP give their considered verdicts on how they view the 2020 season. See if you agree and leave your own thoughts in the comments section at the bottom.

Adam Anderson

Finally our 2020 season has ended, over a year after it started.

CAPTAIN FANTASTIC: Leeds' Luke Gale celebrates kicking the winning point against Huddersfield Giants at Headingley in early August. Picture by Alex Whitehead/SWpix.comCAPTAIN FANTASTIC: Leeds' Luke Gale celebrates kicking the winning point against Huddersfield Giants at Headingley in early August. Picture by Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com
CAPTAIN FANTASTIC: Leeds' Luke Gale celebrates kicking the winning point against Huddersfield Giants at Headingley in early August. Picture by Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com
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The coronavirus pandemic brought a massive pause to the season.

Catalans deserved the win, albeit it wasn’t without controversy.

Overall, the season for me has felt like a success.

We have brought home the Challenge Cup trophy with a magnificent win against Salford Red Devils at Wembley, finished fifth in the league before going on to play the Dragons in an eliminator.

WINNING THROUGH: Leeds Rhinos' head coach Richard Agar proved a number of doubters wrong over the course of the 2020 campaign. Picture: Jonathan Gawthorpe.WINNING THROUGH: Leeds Rhinos' head coach Richard Agar proved a number of doubters wrong over the course of the 2020 campaign. Picture: Jonathan Gawthorpe.
WINNING THROUGH: Leeds Rhinos' head coach Richard Agar proved a number of doubters wrong over the course of the 2020 campaign. Picture: Jonathan Gawthorpe.

Players like Alex Sutcliffe, Jarrod O’Connor, Sam Walters and others have gained much needed and valuable first-team experience, which will help them in the future as they play bigger roles.

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Player of the season votes will be up soon and stand outs for me are Luke Gale, Richie Myler and Ash Handley.

Hopefully we can do a bit of business in the off season and bring in two players for the front row.

It’s been a very weird season but we can all hope to be back in the stands in 2021.

END OF THE LINE: Leeds's Ash Handley shakes hands with Catalans Israel Folau  after his side is knocked out of the playoffs against Catalans. Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.comEND OF THE LINE: Leeds's Ash Handley shakes hands with Catalans Israel Folau  after his side is knocked out of the playoffs against Catalans. Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com
END OF THE LINE: Leeds's Ash Handley shakes hands with Catalans Israel Folau after his side is knocked out of the playoffs against Catalans. Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com

Graham Poulter

Thank heavens that this season is finally over for Leeds Rhinos, although obviously we would have loved it to have ended by playing in and winning the Grand Final in Hull on November 27.

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Considering everything that has happened this year, for Leeds to end their season with a major trophy, the Challenge Cup, it can be considered as an excellent season with lots more positives than negatives.

The major negative for everyone has obviously been the massive impact that Covid-19 had on the season.

STAR TURN: Leeds Rhinos' Richie Myler was one of a number of players to impress fans in 2020. Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.comSTAR TURN: Leeds Rhinos' Richie Myler was one of a number of players to impress fans in 2020. Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com
STAR TURN: Leeds Rhinos' Richie Myler was one of a number of players to impress fans in 2020. Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com

I must give myself a major talking to as, at the start of the year, I said that Leeds head coach Richard Agar wouldn’t last the season.

I didn’t think that he would have the impact on the team that he has, so I hold my hands up and I’d like to congratulate him on making the future of the club look a lot more positive than it has been in recent years.

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He has also given lots of opportunities to the youngsters to shine and shine they did.

Enjoy your rest lads, you have all more than earned it. See you next season, hopefully with crowds back in the stadiums.

Christine Kidd

2020 has been a season unlike any other.

TOP PERFORMER: Brad Dwyer impressed many Leeds Rhinos' fans over the course of the 2020 season. Picture: Jonathan GawthorpeTOP PERFORMER: Brad Dwyer impressed many Leeds Rhinos' fans over the course of the 2020 season. Picture: Jonathan Gawthorpe
TOP PERFORMER: Brad Dwyer impressed many Leeds Rhinos' fans over the course of the 2020 season. Picture: Jonathan Gawthorpe

Before the season began a reasonable Challenge Cup run and a finish in the top half of the table was all that most people hoped for. So winning the challenge Cup and getting to the play-offs exceeded expectations. A number of younger players have made their League debuts and this can only be good for the team going forward.

Luke Gale has proved all the doubters wrong and finished the season as captain. Richie Myler has had an outstanding season and it was good news when he signed a new contract.

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It was unfortunate that Stevie Ward was ruled out for the majority of the season after suffering a concussion in one of the early games before lockdown. I’m not sure what his plans are but I wish him all the best.

The club’s efforts at keeping Robbie Burrow and MND in the spotlight are to be applauded.

Thanks also to the staff at Emerald Headingley for all the work that has gone into the game days, which have been so different this year.

Dianne Hall

After going 18-0 down in the first 20 minutes we had a mountain to climb.

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Once we started getting our fair share of the ball we started to get back into the game and with a try either side of half-time I thought that we were still in it.

The introduction of Brad Dwyer saw the momentum change and although we managed to get the score to within 10 points, a couple of schoolboy errors let the game slip away from us.

Crucially, the loss of Ava Seumanufagai and Mikolaj Oledzki was a massive disadvantage to the Rhinos and the way that the Catalans hooker (I won’t lower myself to name him) head hunted Brad Dwyer was absolutely appalling.

Picking him up to make him play the ball could have seriously injured him and he should have been shown a straight red card! Why the video referee didn’t inform the match official is beyond me.

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Overall, I am pleased with the way this strange season has panned out. Finishing fifth and winning a trophy was a bonus. Well done boys!

Matt Fowler

The weirdest season in living memory is over. Had you offered me a play-off place and the Challenge Cup at the start of the season, especially immediately after the round one defeat to Hull FC, I would have taken it all day long.

The team has grown in stature and confidence before our very eyes and the Wembley win was fitting reward for all their hard work.

The strange season and crazy fixture list allowed a glimpse into the future regarding the youngsters in the squad and the signs are very promising.

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A star forward from the NRL is probably a top priority but with money tight I don’t expect many other changes.

Special mentions go to Harry Newman, Matt Prior and Ash Handley for their consistently high performance levels.

I wish Stevie Ward and Adam Cuthbertson all the best for the future. Their contribution to the Rhinos success will always be remembered.

Finally, I hope the new season starts with me sat in my seat alongside all the other loyal supporters. Oh how I have missed watching my team perform. Bring on 2021.

Ian Sharp

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Well that’s it, the season started off with us looking like a bottom-four side, we improved so much in the next few games, then the world came to a halt as we knew it.

Looking back now, how we restarted after lockdown I do think that winning the Challenge Cup was something that the players and the club wanted this year, the semi-final against Wigan was a Leeds Rhinos masterclass of old.

It was such a shame that we never got back in to the stadiums to watch live rugby, with all the smells and sounds that make the whole matchday experience.

Our last game was a damp squib if I am honest, giving a side an 18-point start is hard to come back from, and with the inept whistleblower not standing up and making the decisions and producing cards it was a poor advert for the sport. Hard to see past Saints for the title, but Wigan can’t be ruled out.

On a personal note, it’s been great again to do the jury.

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I’d like to thank Peter Smith and the people at YEP for letting us keep going over the lockdown. Keep safe, it’ll soon be 2021!

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