2000

The new Millennium did not usher in a new dawn for Leeds Rhinos fans in the year 2000, instead they kicked off the new Dean Lance era with their worst start to a season in living memory with five straight defeats before a mid-season rally offered hope that was ultimately unfounded.

Former Adelaide and Perth coach Dean Lance succeeded Graham Murray into the Rhinos hotseat after being recommended for the job by the former boss along with then Leigh boss Ian Millward. The season got off to a steady start with victory at Post Office Road against Featherstone as the Cup defence began and that was followed by a sterner test as the Rhinos defeated Champions St Helens at Headingley for the second consecutive year in the Fifth Round of the Cup.

The following week Super League V kicked off with a shock as Karl Pratt gifted Wakefield a late try to win 22-18 at Headingley. Leeds bounced back from that defeat with a comfortable win over Dewsbury in the Cup Quarter Final but former Melbourne centre Paul Bell dislocated his shoulder in that game and it was to prove to be his fourth and final game for the club.

Whilst progress in the Cup was proving plain sailing, Leeds were way off the pace the following week when they went to JJB Stadium for the first ever time and only had a Iestyn Harris try to show for their efforts.

Hull FC were defeated in the infamous semi final at Huddersfield a week later when the game was overshadowed by the actions of the Hull fans at the final whistle. Unfortunately that took the gloss off one of the Rhinos better performances of the season with Lee Jackson in fine form against his old club.

The Rhinos were on their way back to the Challenge Cup Final, this time at Murrayfield due to the demolition of Wembley, but they could not buck the trend in the league. A humiliating 42-14 home defeat to St Helens was sandwiched between losses at Halifax and Warrington that saw Leeds slump to the foot of the Super League table. They managed to open their account the following week at home against Huddersfield-Sheffield Giants but few gave them a prayer for the Final the following week in the Scottish capital.

What a difference a year makes! Leroy Rivett had been the hero for Leeds at Wembley but Bradford cruelly exposed him at Murrayfield with an aerial bombardment that played directly into the hands of Michael Withers crossing for two tries. Leeds battled hard and were in the ascendancy in the final quarter only to be beaten by the clock. A year on from his greatest hour, Rivett was never to pull on a Leeds shirt again.

The Rhinos appeared galvanised by their efforts in the Final and responded with back to back wins in the league including a debut for giant Australian centre Graham MacKay against Salford. however a narrow defeat at the Boulevard was followed by a thumping at home to Bradford on a dark day for the Rhinos with the Bulls running out 44-2 winners. That seemed to be the bottom of the barrel and the Rhinos began the climb back from there. Richie Blackmore inspired Leeds to victory over Wigan the following week which kick started a record equalling 13 game unbeaten run in which they beat every opponent in Super League during June and July. Keith Senior scored four tries in a 36-22 home win over Halifax that the centre would later acknowledge as the turning point in his Leeds career whilst remarkably the Rhinos put St Helens to the sword on their own patch the following week.

The wins kept coming for Leeds and built to a crescendo when Dean Lance?s men exacted revenge on their old rivals with an incredible 28-26 win at Odsal on a balmy summers night as Senior scored twice along with Adrian Morley and Francis Cummins. Morley had announced the previous week that he would join forces with Graham Murray at Sydney Roosters and showed what Leeds would miss.

Just as Leeds appeared to be in a position to strike for the play-offs and a return to the Grand Final the wheels came off. The winning run ended with defeat at Castleford and Leeds would lose four of their last five games including a shock 18-6 home loss to London on the final day of the regular season. A fourth place finish brought Castleford to Headingley but Leeds managed to avoid a repeat of the previous year?s disastrous start to the play-offs with a 22-14 win including a Paul Sterling try. Sterling had been at the centre of a controversial discrimination case for the latter part of the season that inevitably impacted on the squad.

The following week Bradford put Leeds out of their misery with a 46-12 win at Odsal with Morley cutting a forlorn figure as he left the field for the last time as a Rhino. At the end of the season, Leeds had 18 players involved in the World Cup in England whilst Daryl Powell retired and David Barnhill and Richie Blackmore decided to head back to the NRL. Graham MacKay had a spell in Rugby Union before switching to Bradford whilst Lee Jackson rejoined Hull FC.