'Won't do that again': missed kicks explained in Leeds Rhinos' Wheelchair Grand Final loss v Wigan Warriors
Both teams scored nine tries, but Collins managed only two conversions from seven attempts and Tom Halliwell landed one out of two.
Player of the match Declan Roberts missed only twice for Wigan and his successful kicks made the difference in their 50-42 win.
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Hide AdCollins is normally one of the most reliable marksmen in the game, but Simpson revealed: “He had a little camera on his wheelchair for Sky and every time he went to convert he was moving slightly off the mark.
“That’s why he was missing by tiny points. It’s not an excuse, but it’s definitely something we won’t be doing next year.”
Collins scored four tries and his livewire second half performance almost pulled the game from the fire after Leeds had trailed by 16.
“He was outstanding [after the break],” Simpson said. “It’s just one of those things. I thought we had some really good individual performances in the second half and there were moments when we really played as a team, but Wigan deserved it.”
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Hide AdIt was Rhinos’ third successive defeat in a final, following last year’s Super League title-decider and the Challenge Cup showpiece in August.
Leeds received the Super League leaders’ shield before the match, but Simpson accepted third-placed Wigan were the better team on the big occasion.
“We were beaten fair and square,” he said. “You can’t argue with that, I thought Dec Roberts was phenomenal, unplayable.
“They dominated us in the first half, we were awful. The players recognised that and every time we gave ourselves a bit of a lifeline in the second half we committed some sort of infraction, gave away a penalty and again we were on the back foot. The missed kicks and discipline are the two areas we suffered from.”