There was elimination play off heart break for the Rhinos as St Helens snatched a 16-14 victory with the final play at AMT Headingley.

The Rhinos were never behind on the scoreboard throughout the eighty minutes of the match, and looked in control leading 14-6 with five minutes to play. Saints were awarded a controversial try to get back into the game when video referee Chris Kendall over ruled on field official, Jack Smith, who had initially signalled a ‘No try’ in play. Saints then kept the ball alive having been awarded a penalty with six seconds remaining in the game to take the win and progress through to the semi final next week at Hull KR.

Leeds welcomed back Jack Connor, Ash Handley, Lachie Miller and Ryan Hall and, after weathering some early pressure from Saints, began to dominate the game. Chris Hankinson scored his first try for the Rhinos at AMT Headingley when he finished off a fine flowing move in the corner. Connor added the conversion to give his side a 6-0 lead.

Saints hit back after 24 minutes when Jonny Lomax stayed alert after it initially appeared Morgan Knowles had knocked on an attempted offload. The officials adjudged that Knowles, having dropped the ball off his arm, then kicked ahead for Lomax to chase through and score. The conversion was added by Mark Percival to level the score.

The Rhinos came up with the perfect response to take the lead again minutes later. Keenan Palasia produced a great offload in midfield and James McDonnell timed his run to perfection to take the pass from Brodie Croft and then power his way over for the line. Jake Connor added the conversion to give his side a 12-6 lead.

The half ended with the Rhinos aggrieved that they were not awarded a penalty as the hooter sounded with a high shot on Brodie Croft by Curtis Sironen, who would survive further punishment later in the game for an arm to the face of McDonnell on the floor.  

The Rhinos were awarded a third try for Ash Handley after 45 minutes only for Lomax to use his Captain’s Challenge to overturn the on field decision. Video referee Chris Kendall was satisfied that Morgan Gannon, as the lead runner, had run into Lomax in the defensive line and that he had not been pushed into Lomax but the Saints skipper’s team mate Harry Robertson. The try was disallowed.

The home side had a good spell of pressure after that, forcing multiple errors from Saints and keeping the pressure on with goal line drop outs but they could not make it count on the score board.

The visitors then had their best period but were thwarted when Jake Connor produced a try saving tackle in the corner. The half back then edged his side further in front after he was tackled high 25m from the Saints line. He kicked the penalty to give the Rhinos a two score advantage after 66 minutes, leading 14-6.

Tempers spilled over shortly afterwards when McDonnell and Sironen tangled in the tackle however the referee was content to call both captains in and awarded Leeds the penalty.

Leeds continued to look in control but conceded a second try with five minutes remaining. Jon Bennison spun in the tackle and reached for the line. Referee Jack Smith, who was inches away from the grounding, sent the decision up as a No Try. Video referee Chris Kendall then over ruled that decision saying the ball had been grounded on the line and there was clear evidence from the footage to over rule the on field decision. Bennison converted his own try to set up a grandstand finish at 14-12 to Leeds.

The Rhinos looked like they had done enough when they handed over the final possession to Saints near their try line with less than a minute to go. However, when Brodie Croft attempted to intercept an offload near halfway, Jarrod O’Connor was penalised for offside when he dived on the loose ball with six seconds remaining.

Saints kicked the penalty to touch as the hooter sounded and had one play to win the game. Robertson was the key man for Saints as he evaded several attempted tackles before offloading to Tristan Sailor, who produced a reverse pass out of the back of his hand to open up the space for Saints to move the ball wide and allow Shane Wright to score the winning try.  The final conversion attempt was missed after a delay with the Saints bench racing onto the pitch along with photographers and support staff. Saints had secured a remarkable 16-14 victory and booked their place in the semi final.

For the Rhinos, it was heart break especially for Sam Lisone and Morgan Gannon who will now leave the club next season and a tale of what might have been for the 2025 season.