2002

Daryl Powell?s second season, and his first full season in charge of the club, began with much change to the playing personnel and ended with even more as the club took immediate action to change the course of the side.

The arrival of Wayne McDonald from St Helens, Adrian Vowles from Castleford and Willie Poching from Wakefield, the latter for a fee of ?35,000, added to the overseas recruitment of Matt Adamson from Penrith and Ben Walker from Northern Eagles. Walker had been signed to fill the considerable boots of the departed Iestyn Harris as stand-off and goal kicker whilst the long serving Francis Cummins took over the captain?s armband.

A pre-season training camp in South Africa resulted in a friendly defeat to Neil Kelly?s Widnes Vikings with an incredible thunder and lightning storm as the backdrop. The newly-promoted Vikings would prove to be a constant thorn in the side in 2002.

Leeds were handed the toughest possible draw in the Fourth round of the Cup as they travelled to Valley Parade to take on the newly crowned World Champions, Bradford Bulls. The new signings quickly settled into their stride with Walker leading the way with a try and four goals whilst Ryan Sheridan completed the win with his usual Cup heroics. Victory over lower division Hull KR at home followed before a comfortable 46-10 win over Wakefield booked a semi final berth. In between the latter cup wins the Rhinos had mixed fortunes in their opening league games.

Andy Hay scored four tries in a 48-6 demolition of London at home followed by a disappointing 38-6 loss at the Boulevard against Hull FC, with Matt Diskin sent off for the visitors.

The Rhinos put together a run of four wins, starting with the Cup victory over the Wildcats, and followed by wins at Warrington, at home against Halifax, with Tonie Carroll scoring a hat trick, and finally at Castleford with a 36-16 win. That run took the Rhinos up to second behind Bradford and one place ahead of St Helens ahead of back to back league and Cup clashes against Ian Millward?s side.

A narrow 30-26 defeat at Knowsley Road seemed to set up the Cup semi final the following week nicely at JJB Stadium only for the Rhinos to freeze on the big stage and get blown away by a Saints team in their pomp, losing 42-16.

Leeds regained second spot in the league the following week with a 52-22 win over Wakefield, Chev Walker scoring a hat trick, but the inconsistency that would dog them all season returned the following week with a shock home defeat to Widnes.

The Rhinos went unbeaten in May with five wins in the month including a memorable 28-22 win at JJB Stadium against Wigan which had followed a home win over Bradford a week earlier.

If May was good to Daryl Powell?s side then June was a disaster with St Helens and Widnes completing a double in the league before yet another win over Wakefield, this time at Belle Vue with Willie Poching scoring against his former club. July did not appear to be getting much better for the Rhinos as they opened up with narrow home defeats to Warrington and Castleford as Leeds found themselves stranded in fourth place. Wins over lowly Halifax and Salford only papered over the cracks, the latter only coming thanks to a Ryan Sheridan drop goal.

In the remaining ten games in the season, the Rhinos only managed to secure victories in half and their morale appeared to be critically dented by a 46-18 hammering at Valley Parade against Bradford with Barrie McDermott sent off for a fight with Stuart Fielden, leaving a young Rhinos side little chance against a fired up Bulls outfit.

The Rhinos lost at home to Wigan the following week but a silver lining came 48 hours later when the club confirmed that they had signed Wigan?s talismanic forward Dave Furner for the 2003 season.

The team were under increasing pressure but they responded in fine style with an impressive 52-10 win over Hull FC before a fourth win of the season over Wakefield. The Rhinos slumped to fifth with a 38-18 loss at St Helens followed by a narrow 18-20 defeat to the Bulls at Headingley Carnegie, with a last gasp try from Leon Pryce denying Leeds a famous win.

That seemed to rally the Rhinos troops and they finished the season in good form. A 28-26 home win over London was followed by a surprise 32-26 win at Wigan on the final day of the season when a young side that included Nick Scruton on his debut overcame the odds. A home win over Hull FC in the opening weekend of the play-offs increased hope of better only for humiliation at Wigan a fortnight after that famous win as the season fizzled out with a 41-18 loss.

The club management took immediate steps to turn the situation around and gave Powell their full backing. Senior players Andy Hay, Karl Pratt and Ryan Sheridan were released whilst Ben Walker headed back home to Australia. However, perhaps the most significant decision in those dark winter months came with the decision to make a young loose forward called Kevin Sinfield, aged only 21, captain of the Rhinos.