It was inevitable Kevin Sinfield had one more big moment in him in his final Headingley appearance for Leeds Rhinos. The man who has delivered for his adopted club time and time again over the last 18 years was staring the end of his rugby league career in the face with 15 minutes remaining – of that there can be little doubt.
Leeds looked dead and buried and it seemed there would be no Old Trafford farewell for Sinfield and the retiring duo of Jamie Peacock and Kylie Leuluai. St Helens simply had their number and they were the ones who seemed on course to set up a rematch of last year’s Grand Final with Wigan next Saturday.
But then cue Sinfield and cue the most remarkable 40/20 to turn the game on its head and put Leeds en route to Old Trafford for the first time since 2012. Their departing holy trinity will get the Old Trafford farewell they craved and they now stand within 80 minutes of becoming the first side to win the treble since St Helens in 2006. It will be a rematch of the first ever Grand Final in 1998 between Leeds and Wigan next Saturday – and, for the record, Leeds have never beaten the Warriors in a major final in the 125-year history of the sport.
“We needed something special,” admitted the Leeds coach, Brian McDermott. “It was a great moment from him; we needed something special because Saints were really on top at that point and the intensity of the game left both teams so tired.”
It would be unfair to look back on a magnificent game of rugby league – perhaps the best this year – and not mention the team who came desperately close to winning. St Helens’ quest to retain their Super League title ended here at Headingley but Keiron Cunningham’s men more than played their part in a classic.
They led for over half the game and seemed the favourites as the match entered the final quarter thanks to Mark Percival’s try. But Sinfield’s moment of magic was the catalyst for Leeds to see off Saints – with Kallum Watkins’s try right on the hooter adding a touch of unfairness to the scoreline; these two evenly matched sides were no more than a point apart.
“We were the better side for large quantities of that game but that kick from Kevin is just a momentum swinger– it’s a game changer,” said Cunningham. “I thought we had the control, we were on top, but great players do great things and that’s what Kevin Sinfield did.”
After a low-key and ultimately one-sided semi-final between Wigan and Huddersfield on Thursday night hopes were always high that the two most successful sides in Super League history would deliver a more entertaining affair. The visitors started the better of the two teams and a largely dominating opening quarter enabled them to take a healthy lead. It was the St Helens hooker James Roby, so often the defending champions’ go-to man over the last decade, who broke the deadlock: spinning, twisting and turning away from four Leeds defenders before stepping round Zak Hardaker to touch down.
Luke Walsh converted and he was on target again with a penalty 12 minutes later to extend Saints’ lead. A frenetic pace and high intensity from the visitors had Leeds on the back foot and Walsh opted for goal when the home side were penalised for offside which, in the context of the game, seemed a wise decision.
Leeds responded well and after Watkins put Hardaker away for their side’s first points of the evening, Sinfield converted and then slotted over a penalty of his own to make it 8-8 before Walsh showed all his experience by kicking over a drop-goal on the hooter to hand Saints the slenderest of leads at the interval.
Any fears that the intensity would drop off after the interval were, thankfully, unfounded as both teams resumed in the same vein. Errors crept in as the game wore on and, with the tension increasing, an error from Ryan Hall gave St Helens the opportunity to extend their lead. Jon Wilkin collected and Jordan Turner sent Percival away for the try that looked good value to send the visitors back to Old Trafford.
That was until Sinfield stepped out of the shadow of a visibly tiring Leeds side, hooking the ball downfield and catching out Adam Swift to hand Leeds the initiative. Then, from the resulting set, Hall would make amends for his earlier error by touching down under pressure to narrow the gap to one. Sinfield was handed what would have been a relatively tough conversion anyway but, even with the changing of the lead on the line, he knocked it over – before Watkins’ try on the hooter sealed the farewell Leeds’ iconic trio of departing stars imagined back in February.
Leeds Hardaker; Briscoe, Watkins, Moon, Hall; Sinfield, McGuire; Garbutt, Burrow, Leuluai, Ablett, Delaney, Cuthbertson Interchange Singleton, Keinhorst, Peacock, Lilley
Tries Hardaker, Hall, Watkins Goals Sinfield 4
St Helens Quinlan; Makinson, Percival, Jones, Swift; Turner, Walsh; Masoe, Roby, Amor, Vea, Wilkin, Flanagan
Interchange McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Walmsley, Greenwood, Savelio
Tries Roby, Percival Goals Walsh 2 Drop goal Walsh
Referee R Hicks Attendance 17,192
