2011

What makes the impossible possible? Teamwork, dedication and desire are all three qualities that Leeds showed to win the 2011 Super League title. As local folk law says, never write off a Rhino!

In Brian McDermott?s first season in charge, Leeds kept their signings short. Ben Cross was the only NRL import from Newcastle whilst Weller Hauraki signed from Crusaders and youngster Zak Hardaker arrived at the club on a five-year deal. Former hooker James Lowes was confirmed as the club?s assistant coach before pre-season?s began.

Two wins over Wakefield and Crusaders set Leeds off to a winning start prior to the season beginning in Cardiff for Millennium Magic. Hailed as the best start to a season, Leeds faced Bradford under the roof of the Millennium Stadium but left it late to get the win. Youngster Ben Jones-Bishop was on the board early on, but Leeds would be down 4-12 after 20 minutes. An interception try extended Bradford?s lead before Ryan Hall crashed over to make it 10-16 at the break. Kylie Leuluai, Rob Burrow and Jones-Bishop would help Leeds fight back again from 10-28 to put the Rhinos within two points. It would be a late call from referee Richard Siverwood that decided the game as Jones-Bishop was taken out off the ball by Gareth Raynor after a kick through. The referee awarded a penalty try to seal a Leeds win at 28-32.

The winning run continued as Leeds travelled from coast to coast. A visit to Hull FC came away with victory as the Rhinos climbed the table. Weller Hauraki got his first try for the club whilst Jones-Bishop took his tally to four. The win came after five players (Ryan Hall, Kevin Sinfield, Jones-Bishop, Chris Clarkson and Kallum Watkins) all received new contracts till 2014.

As the anticipation grew around McDermott?s side, Leeds returned to Headingley to face Harlequins. Without major names, Brent Webb, Brett Delaney, Carl Ablett, Leeds slipped to an unexpected 26-36 loss to the London side. Leeds? visit to the Halliwell Jones also ended in defeat as the Rhinos were comfortably beaten 24-40.

Leeds picked up points throughout their next five games starting with a win against Salford. The Rhinos were on song as they ran in eight tries to seal a dominant 46-12 win. Keith Senior, Jamie Jones-Buchanan, Weller Hauraki, Kallum Watkins, Brent Webb, Ali Lauitiiti and a double from Brent Webb helped Leeds back up to sixth.

Continuing at Headingley, St Helens took all the points with 16-30 win. Injuries still hampered the Rhinos, but a fortunate run of results helped Leeds to more points. Away at Wakefield, Leeds kept their opponents to six points as four Watkins tries sealed a 28-6 win.

Wigan were the visitors at the start of April with nothing being able to split the two sides. A score by Brent Webb on his return from injury, as well as tries from Danny Buderus and Jamie Jones-Buchanan, wasn?t enough to claim victory over the Champions, with the match ending 22-22.

Leeds left it too late against Hull KR, with the twelfth placed team shocking the league as they beat Leeds 28-38 at Craven Park. Huddersfield inflicted Leeds? heaviest defeat since 2005 when they walked over the Rhinos 6-38 at Headingley.

As Leeds looked in dire straits, the return of more players and a growth of team confidence saw them rise from seventh to fifth. An away trip to Odsal saw Leeds come good against Bradford Bulls. In Ryan Hall?s 100^th game for the club, Leeds came from behind twice to get the 30-22 win, thanks to tries from Paul McShane, Jamie Jones-Buchanan, Keith Senior, Ryan Hall and Danny Buderus.

Crusaders visited in round 12 and couldn?t stop the onslaught as Leeds ran riot 34-16. Castleford were also brushed aside 48-06 with eight tries contributing to Leeds? rise from sixth.

The Challenge Cup gave Leeds a break from the league as they faced Crusaders for the second time in nearly two weeks. Held again at Headingley, Leeds left it late to secure a fifth-round place. Ten points behind and down to fourteen men inside the opening minutes looked ominous but Leeds managed to blitz their way back with 24 unanswered points. McShane, Pitts, Burrow, Hall and Buderus all got on the scoresheet to ensure Leeds were in the hat for the next round.allHall

Catalans Dragons were no stopping mechanism for the rampant Rhinos as Leeds marched to a 30-6 win. Two tries for Zak Hardaker was the highlight as the young winger looked to be blossoming under Brian McDermott.

Harlequins in round five saw another runaway victory at Headingley. Kylie Leuluai made it back to back tries with Ali Lauitiiti, Zak Hardaker, Jamie Jones-Buchanan, Brett Delaney, Ryan Hall and Chris Clarkson also scoring to help Leeds to a 40-20 win.

Consecutive away losses to Warrington and St Helens were followed by wins against Hull KR and Crusaders in round 17 and 18. The match against Hull KR was postponed till the Sunday due to the England v Exile competition, held at Headingley. Peacock and Buderus had captained their sides, with Hall, Sinfield and Leuluai also being involved in the International friendly, that the exile won.

A hat trick from Ryan Hall on his return had put the winger back up in the league?s top scorers as Leeds downed Hull KR 44-14. Lauitiiti and McGuire were on the board against Crusaders a week later, with the Rhinos edging to a 12-7 win.

Ben Cross and Luke Burgess were released from their contracts prior to the game against Bradford, with Cross moving to Wigan for the remainder of the year and Burgess making the journey to South Sydney Rabbitohs.

The local derby against the Bulls followed the Rhinos? eight-point win back in April. Jamie Jones-Buchanan and Ryan Hall?s tries were cancelled out by two Olivier Elima tries. Patrick Ah Van?s kicking would decide the match as he kicked four penalty goals to give Bradford a 18-12 win at Headingley.

Another close matchup against Wigan ended with the defending Champions edging Leeds 24-26 at the start of July before Catalans Dragons boosted their playoff hopes with a 18-38 win out in Perpignan.

With Leeds slipping to eighth, it was time to raise the game. Back to back matches over Hull FC ended in a 20-0 league win and then a 38-22 win in the Challenge Cup quarter finals. With Keith Senior announcing his departure to Crusaders at the end of the season, the Rhinos proved too good to beat the black and whites and reach a second semi-final in two seasons. Kevin Sinfield also surpassed Lewis Jones? record points tally with the seven goals he kicked in the quarter final.

A 22-30 win away at Salford separated the Challenge Cup matches, with Castleford seeming an easy rival for Leeds to get back to Wembley. The match, held at Doncaster?s Keepmoat Stadium, was a classic tie as both sides tussled for a place in the final. A strong start for the Tigers was diffused by Kevin Sinfield?s early penalty goal that would be the difference at half time. The second half was opened by Castleford, their star man Rangi Chase beating Webb on the outside to score in the corner. Two penalties and the score was 8-2 in favour of the Tigers with nine minutes left. In a tight ending period, Leeds levelled it as Watkins took an offload from Hauraki to level the scores. Both sides tried to win it; Sinfield?s drop goal being intercepted before Chase?s opportunity went well wide. Leeds would win the game in extra time as Danny McGuire was tackled high, gifting Sinfield a two-point penalty goal to send Leeds to Wembley.

Back in the league, Leeds wouldn?t need extra time as they demolished the Tigers 56-0 at Headingley, Webb and Burrow scoring doubles. An early trip to London didn?t go as planned with Harlequins claiming a second league win over the Rhinos in 2011.

Challenge Cup final day is one of the pinnacle events in the rugby league calendar with over 78,000 fans attending. Both Leeds and Wigan had last met in the final back in 1995 but it had been over a decade since either club lifted the trophy (Leeds in 1999 and Wigan in 2002). Wigan opened the match with confidence as Josh Charnley got the opening try. Jeff Lima doubled Wigan?s lead to 10-0 before the Tomkins brother combined to send Joel on an 80-metre dash to the try line. The Rhinos produced points before half time when Ryan Hall slipped in the corner and a break by Jamie Jones-Buchanan started a move that sent Ben Jones-Bishop over in the corner. Carl Ablett put Leeds within two points as he touched down before Jeff Lima and Ryan Hall exchanged tries make the score 18-22. But Leeds would make it a second successive Wembley defeat when Tommy Leuluai burrowed over to lift the cup.

Returning to the league, Leeds were ruthless as they ended the campaign with big wins over Wakefield and Huddersfield to finish fifth in the league. Over both games, Ryan Hall scored five tries to improve his season tally whilst there were fourteen other tries over the two games.

With Warrington claiming the league leaders shield, Leeds entered the playoffs in fifth place, meaning the club would play three matches if they were to reach the Grand Final. The Rhinos opened their playoff run against Hull FC at Headingley. Despite heavy rain prior to the game, Leeds kept the ball in hand to run seven tries past the east coast side. Jamie Jones-Buchanan, Ben Jones-Bishop, Brent Webb, Weller Hauraki, Kevin Sinfield, Danny McGuire and Ryan Bailey were all on the scoreboard as Leeds eliminated Hull.

Nearly two weeks after they last met, the Rhinos met another Yorkshire rival in Huddersfield. A man of the match performance for Zak Hardaker saw the centre score a hat trick to put Leeds into a semi-final against the form side Warrington Wolves.

In possibly the game of the season, Leeds turned the tables to beat Warrington in a thriller at the Halliwell Jones. Carl Ablett was on the board early for Leeds but Warrington would take control at 12-06 with two quick tries. Within minutes of the second half starting, when Warrington looked to be in for another, Ryan Hall levelled the scores for Leeds. Matt King and another from Hall kept the scores level with 20 minutes left before Burrow looked to have given Leeds an advantage but Chris Riley was in with five minutes left. Like against Castleford in the Challenge Cup, Kevin Sinfield?s boot would decide the match as he slotted a penalty goal after being hit late as he tried for a drop goal. 25 metres out, Sinfield struck gold as he sent Leeds back to the Grand Final.

Brian McDermott was in the hot seat for the first time in his coaching career as Leeds made their first Grand Final since 2009. St Helens had made it a sixth successive Grand Final when they beat Wigan at Langtree Park and they faced Leeds for the fourth time on the season?s final stage. Jamie Foster and Kevin Sinfield exchanged conversions before a piece of Rob Burrow magic sparked Leeds into life. Tommy Makinson and Michael Shenton put St Helens to a 16-8 lead but Leeds reacted through Webb, Hall and Ablett to turn the game around. Zak Hardaker completed the win as Leeds became the first side to win the competition from fifth.

The Four Nations competition saw eight Leeds players selected for the England team. Ablett, Bailey, Jones-Bishop, Hall, McGuire, Peacock, Sinfield and Jones Buchanan were all selected as England once again were defeated in the final against Australia. Kallum Watkins and Zak Hardaker were named in the Knights squad that beat France and Cumbria. Danny Buderus and Ali Lauitiiti both left the club, with Lauitiiti signing for Wakefield for 2012.