2014

In a year that Rhinos fans laughed off the supposed Wembley hoodoo, there was plenty to cheer about if you wear blue and amber.

The Rhinos would be back, reaching a Challenge Cup final and making the playoffs of the Super League. As usual, Leeds made only a handful of signings. England winger Tom Briscoe was the major name to sign from Hull FC, joining his brother Luke at the club. Papua New Guinean Paul Aiton made the swap with Paul McShane, who went the other way to Wakefield Wildcats.

Briscoe proved a worthy investment, opening his account with a hat trick against Hull KR in the opening fixtures. The club had, arguably, the best backs in the competition, with Zak Hardaker, Joel Moon, Kallum Watkins and Danny McGuire all getting on the scoresheet in the 06-34 victory.

It would be a winning start for Leeds, who would be undefeated in the first six matches. A home clash with Warrington opened the season at Headingley and Briscoe was on target again, scoring on his home debut. A double from Zak Hardaker also helped Leeds to an 18-12 win on the day that Kallum Watkins made his 100^th appearance for the club. Flying out to Perpignan early in the season was a benefit to Leeds, romping to a 40-12 win in the south of France.

Back on home turf, tries from Watkins and Stevie Ward helped Leeds to a 12-12 draw with Huddersfield before back to back home matches ended in success at Headingley. Widnes had their unbeaten record tarnished by the Rhinos with a resounding 38-04 win. Two tries from Ben Jones-Bishop was the highlights as Leeds? back line continued to dominate the competition.

If Widnes was bad, London Broncos went home with their tails between their legs after a 54-06 thrashing. Another double by Jones-Bishop was one upped by Ryan Hall, who?s hat trick stole the show against a lack lustre Broncos side. Hardaker, Watkins and Burrow were also on the scoresheet with Brad Singleton and Mitch Achurch.

An away trip to St Helens ended the Rhinos? winning streak, the Lancashire side claiming a 14-10 victory at Langtree Park. But Leeds were back at it with the Challenge Cup rounds taking place. Having been draw against local rivals Wakefield, Brain McDermott?s side were clinical with a 60-06 win seeing the Rhinos through to the fifth round. Doubles from Hall, Burrow and Ablett plus more tries for Briscoe, Moon, McGuire, Achurch and Sutcliffe saw Leeds win at the Rapid Solicitors stadium.

Wakefield were the opponents again a week later and Leeds dispatched their rivals once again with a 42-6 win on Jamie Peacock?s 500^th career game. The local rivalry theme continued with Bradford Bulls playing host to Leeds in round nine. Another large score line followed suit; a Hall hat trick one of the highlights as Leeds came out 46-6 victors against a depleted Bulls.

Three consecutive home games followed, and the Rhinos continued to succeed. There were six different scorers on the board as Salford were beaten 32-4, providing the perfect momentum as Leeds went into their Challenge Cup fifth round match up with St Helens.

One of the ties of the fifth round, Leeds would continue walk comfortably through to the quarter finals with a 32-12 win. Zak Hardaker was first on the board for the Rhinos and despite a score from Adam Swift, the Leeds full back was in again for his second before the half time break. Joel Moon extended Leeds lead to 14 points after a break by Ablett and Danny McGuire ended the match with his score taking the score to 26-12. A final effort from Jamie Peacock rounded off the win seeing Leeds through to face Leigh Centurions.

As May came around, Leeds were again dominant, winning three matches out of five. A home win over Wigan was as comfortable as the Challenge Cup game the week before; Leeds coming out 32-12 winners. It was doubles for both Kallum Watkins and Ben Jones-Bishop versus Castleford at the Jungle with Leeds taking the spoils 22-14 before Leeds travelled Magic Weekend at the top of the league.

Held at the Etihad Stadium for a third season, the Rhinos would meet Wigan again after losing 16-20 last season. The margins would be even closer this time with the Warriors edging to a two-point win. After going 6-0 down to an Anthony Gelling try, with two Wigan players and Ryan Bailey in the sin bin, Leeds were able to recover when Ryan Hall dotted down in the corner. Two more tries for the Warriors secured the win despite tries from Carl Ablett and another from Ryan Hall ending the scoring at 14-18.

Back at home, Headingley remained a fortress with Hull FC going down 20-6 as the Rhinos retained top of the table. A visit to the Halliwell Jones came next; a 6-24 scoreline continuing Leeds? four-year winless run away at Warrington.

It was quarter final time in the Challenge Cup and once again Leeds were on home soil to face Leigh Centurions, who were unbeaten in the Championship. The visitors put up a stern test for the Rhinos, despite Ryan Hall?s early try settling the nerves. Tom Spencer and Tom Armstrong put the Centurions in the lead before Leeds restored order through Stevie Ward to lock the scores up at 12-12 at half time. The second half had most on the edge of their seats as neither side could make a breakthrough. It was youngster Robbie Ward, who had scored against Hull FC two weeks before, that got the break through on the 72^nd minute, diving under the posts to sink the Centurions. Kevin Sinfield made sure of a victory with a drop goal before Zak Hardaker sealed a 25-12 win.

Headingley was alight again six days later when the Rhinos took on Huddersfield. The sides were matched for nearly the full eighty minutes, with one missed conversion by Sinfield, who received an MBE days later, giving Huddersfield a 22-24 lead. It would be a late effort by Tom Briscoe that nearly won the game for Leeds as he beat Danny Brough to the ball. But the video referee ruled a no try, costing Leeds points as they slipped to third in the table.

An away win at Widnes was followed by a point victory over Catalans Dragons at home to put Leeds back up to second before a surprising 14-16 loss to Wakefield in round 19.

Back to back home games followed with Hull KR coming first. A comprehensive display from the Rhinos, like in the reverse fixture at the Lightstream Stadium, ended with a 30-06 win for the home side. Tries from Danny McGuire, Carl Ablett, Liam Sutcliffe and two tries from Rob Burrow closed the gap on St Helens to a point.

Castleford would be next and in a fiery display, both sides had to settle for a draw. Michael Shenton got the Tigers going inside of a minute before Tom Briscoe extended his scoring tally to 11 with an aerial effort. Ryan Bailey put Leeds a try up, but ex-Rhino Weller Hauraki levelled the scores once more. Ablett and Nathan Massey extended both sides? scores to 18-18 before Ablett got his second of the match. Sinfield was sent off for the first time in his career after headbutting Luke Dorn and a late Millington try levelled the scores at 24-24.

The Rhinos edged a 22-18 win over Salford but a rare home defeat to Bradford Bulls wasn?t the what the side needed going into their Challenge Cup semi-final against Warrington Wolves. Held at Langtree Park, the Rhinos were looking make it a seventh Challenge Cup final appearances since their last Cup win in 1999. A first half double by Ryan Hall was the highlight of the sides opening exchanges as Leeds went on the attack. After half time, Chris Bridge?s score for Warrington was matched by Joel Moons effort to make the score 18-4. When Stefan Ratchford put the score within eight, Tom Briscoe produced a long-range interception to send the Rhinos back to Wembley with a 24-16 win.

With only one game separating the semi-final and final, Leeds travelled to the capital early to face London Broncos. In a high scoring affair, London?s only victory that season would come against Leeds, with the side that sat bottom of the table upsetting the high flyers 36-40.

No matter though as a Challenge Cup final showdown with Castleford Tigers provided Rhinos fans with relief and exhilaration. It would be the first all Yorkshire final in 28 years since 1986, with Castleford winning on that occasion. Tom Briscoe opened the scoring for Leeds early on to push the Rhinos out to a 0-6 lead. Despite a Daryl Clark try for Castleford, Danny McGuire leaped higher than Luke Dorn for Leeds to lead once more. Ryan Hall, who picked up the Lance Todd trophy, used his strength to push Kirk Dixon out of the way to score his first and powered through the Tigers defence to score his second. A McGuire drop goal sealed the win for the Rhinos, who finally lifted the Challenge Cup after 15 years.

The Challenge Cup seemed to finalise the Rhinos? season with the club losing their next three league matches against St Helens, Wigan and Hull FC. With the club dropping to sixth from third, Leeds would play Catalans Dragons at home in the playoffs. Carl Ablett and Sam Williams exchanged scores before Kallum Watkins capitalised on a miss timed pass to put Leeds 14-6 up at half time. Two Catalan tries swung the game back towards the French side, but Leeds looked to have secured the win when Jamie Jones-Buchanan put Leeds back in the lead with minutes left. With two minutes on the clock, Sam Williams would get his second try, ending Leeds? season.

Post season Ryan Hall, Kallum Watkins and Zak Hardaker were all included in the England Four Nations team that only managed one win in the competition. Rob Mulhern was also called up for the Ireland squad for the Alitalia Cup. Ben Jones-Bishop made the move to Salford Red Devils, Ryan Bailey signed for Hull KR and Ian Kirke joined local rivals Wakefield. Kevin Sinfield MBE also announced his retirement from international rugby.