1999

1999 was to prove a memorable year for Leeds Rhinos with Iestyn Harris at the height of his powers leading the way for a team that were unstoppable at times.

Having reached the inaugural Grand Final the previous year, Leeds went into the 1999 season with high hopes to end the club?s 21 year wait for major silverware with only Lee Jackson added to the squad from the previous year and Graham Holroyd having moved on to his home town club, Halifax. However, the club was rocked on the eve of the new season when Graham Murray announced he would be returning home to Australia at the end of the season to take up a contract with North Sydney Bears.

The resolve within the club was to make sure that Murray was sent off in style and they were presented with the toughest possible draw in the Fourth Round of the Cup as Champions Wigan arrived at Headingley for a Grand Final rematch. The Rhinos task was made even harder when Barrie McDermott was sent off for a high shot on Simon Haughton. However, Ryan Sheridan was inspirational for Leeds and his try and drop goal were key in the 28-18 win.

Things got no easier for Leeds in the next round as St Helens were plucked out of the bag to come next to Headingley. Saints, under new Head Coach Ellery Hanley presented a sizeable challenge however Adrian Morley led the way for Leeds with some incredible defence and Sheridan once again pulled the strings on attack, with a try alongside one for Terry Newton and eight goals from Harris capped a hard earned 24-16 win.

After two tough Cup rounds, Leeds then kicked off the new Super League season with a trip to the North East to face new boys Gateshead Thunder. Super League had expanded for 1999 with 14 teams and the inclusion of the Thunder and Wakefield. Heavy rain had put the game in jeopardy before it eventually got the go ahead and Leeds slogged their way to a 24-14 win.

The Rhinos dispatched lower league Widnes in the Quarter Final of the Cup the following week with Andy Hay in sensational form and Kevin Sinfield making his first Cup appearance before Wigan turned the tables on Leeds at Headingley with a 26-12 loss.

Leeds could have been guilty of having one eye on an even bigger clash the following week when 23,438 were packed into the McAlpine Stadium in Huddersfield for an epic battle with Bradford Bulls. With London having beaten Castleford the previous day in the other semi final, the winner of the derby would go to Wembley as red hot favourites which led to a classic encounter. Leeds trailed 10-0 in the first half but a sensational ball steal by Sheridan on Danny Peacock just before half time saw the former Sheffield Eagle race clear to bring his side back into the game. However, it was not until a late try from Marcus St Hilaire that the Rhinos knew they were heading back to Wembley.

Leeds lost two of their next five games in between the semi and the final as Wembley-itis set in. However, they did beat Final rivals London 38-12 to increase the expectations ahead of the showpiece occasion along with back to back victories over Hull and Huddersfield in the immediate build up to the Final.

The Final itself was a remarkable occasion as London gave Leeds the fright of their lives for the first 50 minutes. However, a try from Barrie McDermott broke their spirit and Leroy Rivett wrote his name in the history books as the first player to ever score four tries in a Wembley Final.

Having ended the 21-year-drout Leeds found themselves at the top of the tree but with two thirds of the season to go. They looked unstoppable during the summer months as they dispatched all before them with a thirteen game unbeaten run that began with a heavy defeat to Saints at Headingley the week after Wembley, when Jamie Jones-Buchanan made his debut, and ended at Knowsley Road at the end of July.

The most notable wins in the run of games came half way through when a rare Jamie Mathiou try helped Leeds to a second consecutive league win at Central Park over Wigan, followed by a massive 45-16 win over Bradford at Headingley on a balmy night when Andy Hay was incredible scoring a hat trick and capped off with a 50-22 demolition of Castleford which included a hat trick from Marvin Golden.

Against Huddersfield Iestyn Harris re-wrote the club?s record books as he collected a personal haul of 42 points with four tries and 13 goals on an unhappy return to his former club for Mal Reilly.

Back to back wins over Wakefield and Warrington were followed by a narrow one point defeat at Halifax when Morley was sent off for a head butt. Notably Chev Walker made his debut as a 16 year old at The New Shay. That was to prove a costly defeat as Leeds aimed to make the all important top two and allowed St Helens to leapfrog the Rhinos.

Leeds bounced back with three consecutive wins including a 28-22 win over Wigan that meant Leeds had completed consecutive league doubles over their old Championship rival. The Rhinos headed towards the end of the season with another one point loss at league leaders Bradford, with Walker scoring for the visitors, before a narrow home win over London with Keith Senior making his debut on the same day he had signed for the club from Sheffield Eagles. That meant Leeds went into the play offs in third and faced a tricky trip to Knowsley Road in the first week of the play offs. Iestyn Harris and Lee Jackson scored for the Rhinos in a below par performance but there was no time to recover as they faced a Castleford side buoyed by a dramatic win at Wigan?s new JJB Stadium the previous week. It was to prove a hurdle too far for Graham Murray?s men as his era ended as it had begun with defeat to the Tigers at Headingley with a 23-16 loss.

Brad Godden, Marc Glanville and Martin Masella all moved on at the end of the season having given great service to the club and helped to re-establish Leeds as a major force in the game.