Almost a year to the day since Leeds secured the League Leaders’ Shield at Huddersfield, the two clubs meet in remarkably different circumstances in the Qualifiers – but the memories of that night 12 months ago are still all too vivid for Stevie Ward.
While Ryan Hall was scoring the last-second try that secured top spot for the Rhinos, Ward was confined to the inner sanctum of the John Smith’s Stadium being told that the knee injury he suffered in that game was as serious as first feared.
The 22-year-old returned to the field on crutches to celebrate with his team-mates before undergoing surgery, enduring a battle with depression and a 12-month lay-off from the sport. Now, two games into his comeback, on Sunday Ward is faced with the prospect of exorcising his personal demons at a ground that holds such painful memories for the forward.
“It’ll be a strange one,” he said. “There will be a few memories flooding back in the changing rooms because it’s where it all happened and where I was laid up not knowing what was going to come. There will be some energy and emotion there on Sunday when it comes to facing up to the bad memories, but I will be doing my best to put that chapter to bed, knowing that 2017 is going to be a big year.”
Ward has used his time on the treatment table well, setting up and publishing Mantality, an online magazine, from scratch, but he admits nothing could replicate his comeback a fortnight ago against Salford at Headingley.
“My comeback was euphoric, I can’t describe it any other way,” he says. “It was the best feeling ever. I don’t know how rock stars feel when they perform but to get my name chanted after a year out injured was just so humbling. To have the boys supporting me was brilliant, I couldn’t have envisaged a better comeback.
“I didn’t want to look back at 2016 and not think I’ve done anything and not played any rugby. I’ve managed to do some productive things away from the field but also I’ve got back playing: I’ve ticked two really big boxes so I can look back at this year and be content, especially given how it started.”
As Leeds look to progress through the Qualifiers unbeaten, Ward believes it would be a warning for the rest of Super League. “From where we’ve been as a team, to win seven in a row is something we want to do and something we want to believe is an achievement,” he says. “It would send a message out to Super League that we’re capable of challenging at the right end again next year.”
Huddersfield will desperate to stop that after their desperate loss to Leigh last Saturday and they need to win on Sunday and next Saturday against Hull KR to avoid playing in the Million Pound Game to confirm their place in Super League, 12 months after they were so close to ending Leeds’s treble hopes.
