we won by 11



we are a team imo that is in transition, yes youre still a better side overall and are much more consistant but the way we have been written off by alot of the wigan fans all week its nice to prove to the rest of SL we are not done yet

Great game.....great result, made all the sweeter by it being Wigan.

Does today and the WCC win erase the dross we have seen the same team produce during the season? Only if you were the most anal of gloryhunting bandwaggoners....and we surely don't still have some of them within our ranks?



The rest of us are fairly happy to take the rough with the smooth, and comment on each game as it turns out. And today was very smooth.

So, with all due respect to the sanctimonious brigade, perhaps today is not the time for chelping.

Playground logic pal. What you're writing is meaningless playground logic.

It's same as saying if wigan can beat leeds by 50, and leeds can beat warrington by 16, wigan will beat warrington by 66.

I blanked out that last penalty in my rage



I am sure it is, after your ups and downs this season I am sure it is great getting to the final, particulalry for the fans. Good luck in the final and I hope you beat Warrington/Huddersfield.

Ah, but you have to be in the Final to loose it......something your one season wonder of a team wont be.

We feel your pain

How many times will you COPY....... PASTE this comment. Come on, here's a tissue!

Well said.

I'm quite sure that Keith Swiftcorn (RIP) never once got tired of being spot on all the time whilst graciously offering his sagely assessments on all things Super League related.

I'd like to take this opportunity to congratulate Leeds on their performance today and for proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that they really don't care about the regular season games and only turn up when they really need to. How refreshing was it to witness one of those rare games which actually have meaning and count for something? Where a decent performance was required? Where a win was absolutely necessary and important?

It was lovely to not have to put up with another tedious regular round Super League fixture which counts for nothing along with yet another half-d performance from the team. The Leeds club knows this, the Leeds players know this, and I believe most fans are slowly beginning to realise it too.

It's just a shame only a minority of fans got to witness the game in the flesh today whilst the rest only attend games because they have pished their allocation of money away on a season ticket which provides little to no value in any real sense.

Back down to earth next week for another fixture against whipping boy super League rabble. I can already hear those collective yawns.

PS: What a childish effort at getting some bites from the OP.

11 points - it was 39-28.

Don't be jealous young Jeffrey

Thanks for the concern daz

I do have a smart phone and I'm not on O2, hth

By the way if my op wasn't tongue in cheek It would be all yours

You used your smartphone to post a troll on southstander immediately after having attended the game? Couldn't even wait to get home and do it?

You saddo Christopher

Obviously I wasn't there today,but I will be at Wembley,so I can only go on what people say about the game today.I have looked on the Wigan board ,but couldnt make a statement cos I am banned,not bothered about that,and to be honest they have not been on here much either,but I have read several statements from their people about the referee gifting Leeds tries,but Not once have read one thing about the last years cup final and the things that went against Leeds.Things even themselves out,and oh by the way they have not won the GF yet

Yesterday was fantastic (as was the WCC match).....BUT if the team is capable of such performances "when it matters" then supporters [udo[/u have the right to criticise and pour scorn on some of the lacklustre, pathetic efforts elsewhere these last couple of seasons.

If those matches don't "matter" then why should they "matter" to paying supporters ?

The criticisms remain valid.

Indeed.
I find the simple solution is to not attend Super League games until the real season begins (unless there is a freebie involved)

All credit to Leeds for their performance yesterday, but it shouldn't be used to disguise the fact that performances at that level have become fewer and further between in 2012 than at any time since probably 2003.

How many more does this Leeds side have in them this year?

It was t' pack that won it....all (apart from JJB sadly) were awesome. Delaney and Bailey (def a back rower in the Ben Harrison mould we should always start with against the big packs ) stood out for me....

But how often indeed can we expect this ?

The roiginal poster is spot on.

Fans aren't discerning cuistomers. They support the Rhinos by accident of birth or parentage. There's no doubt that for the last ten seasons those fans have been very lucky with the successes of the team they have been allowed to reflect in. But, going all the way back to the vitriol Tony Smith received you would be hard pressed to think those fans have enjoyed a truly halcyon period. The greatest in the history of the club.

Is it appreciated? Not be many. They post opinions with some sense of entitlement that they should see Leeds play like the 1982 Kangaroos every week. They can rarely appreciate the effort shown by players in defeat and don't appear to be able to enjoy a game of rugby if the standard set by Leeds doesn't meet their criteria of quality.

Imagine if these supporters had been born in Hunslet, Swinton, Salford or, god forbid Castleford. No doubt they will still be rabid fans of the team they adopted by chance.

Many of the fans of the Rhinos are so lacking in the qualilties displayed by the team.

Do they deserve to follow the greatest team in Leeds RL history? No, many of them deserve to have to follow Rochdale for a season or two. Then they can come back and, perhaps, be a little more appreciative of what they've witnessed these last ten years.

well said,but I am afraid that is not only Leeds Rhino's who have those kind of fans.The Philadelphia Phillies have had a similar successful period in tandem with Leeds rhinos and have had a poor season this season they have had 4 key men out most of the year,and Ryan Howard the big hitter just coming back getting booed,by the bandwagoners because he is getting struck out.Then 5 minutes later when he hits a walk off home run they cheer him!just reminded me of over the years leeds rl have been jeered then come back and won then its cheers.Cnt they sometimes just enjoy the game?

Nice piece of self righteous preaching there G1. I take it you consider yourself to be one of the deserving few?

If you supported Leeds when Simon Irving was our strike threat, or when Patrique was throwing hospital passes to Gary Rose. If you saw Nathan Piccis one contribution, or Ed Rombo or Paul Cooks debut, or the Gibbons or Marvyn or any number of Leeds sides that just made you wince then I reckon you deserved Leeds years of success, and appreciated them. If you have never attended a Sunday league game in the winter then I don't think you can appreciate how GOOD this side is because you have nothing at the other end of the spectrum to compare them with. You can only really compare them with how fantastic they once were. And that's hardly fair.

I was lucky enough to grow up watching players like John Holmes at their best, and the two Wembley wins in the Seventies still rank right up there as some of my greatest sporting moments.
On the flip side of that were the barren/bridesmaid years, poor signings, over paid signings, and never actually winning anything, the Yorkshire Cup win against Cas at Elland Road was actually a special occasion for me!
I am still in a state of disbelief, that my team, the team i have watched all my life, are so good now..yes i get frustrated at the inconsistent league form shown over the last couple of years...but I am so proud to call myself a Rhino, I feel honoured to be watching players like Sinfield and Peacock, Burrow and Maguire..their desire, humility, and talent may never be matched again.
I for one am revelling in this era of winners, because that's what this team are, winners. I dread the day when this team disbands, but through thick and thin i will be there shouting them on, and call me naive, but i actually trust Gary Hetherington to continue building our great club, the next generation is already upon us, Ward, Watkins, Hardaker, Hall are amongst the best of todays young players.

the thing is, the last couple of seasons,last 7/8 games apart, a lot of the games have been dull, even boring. not just leeds i'm struggling to recall more than 3 or 4 good games on sky this year.
i don't blame the clubs its the system at fault.
for the last couple of years the senior players at leeds have played around 35/38 games and only had a month off in the year. this is ridiculuous and you can't expect players to perform week in week out.
there is no doubt for me leeds are trying to stay as fresh as they can for the seasons end, and again, i can't fault it. thats when honours are handed out.
until SL goes down to 11 teams you won't get the intensity week in week out. its impossible. i won't ever fault the team for effort but like others i'm wondering if i want to spend another £500+ watching week in week out against the likes of salford and widnes

Do you even need to ask?



I started watching regularly as the great team of the 70s was getting beyond it's best.

Like Otley Rhino, the highlight of the first 15 years I spent supporting this club was a Yorkshire Cup win.

I deserve this team not because I earned my stripes in the 80s and 90s but because I appreciate them and understand how fortunate I am to witness what they're doing.