True, good luck with that one!

Reading some comments from other fans both pre and post match I think they were a few more who wanted Cas to lose than I would've thought several weeks ago. Seemingly centring around cockiness from Cas and their fans some were happy to see them knocked down a peg.

I was actually very confident we'd win from the moment the SF finished even before the Hardaker stuff to the point I just couldn't see us losing and it's not just me blindly backing Leeds as I really was uncertain with the SF who would win. Cas may have won their SF but were out scored, looked nervous and rattled at times and blew a lead in the final 10. Didn't think they had a GF style performance in them and so it showed as they tried playing it like a league match. Wasn't expecting it to be so one sided though, I wonder what you'd have gotten for Leeds to win by 18, I know I put a few quid on us to win by 8 at 22/1.

That's what get me with people's criticisms and slating. I get the criticism of subs and our attack and they're perfectly valid. It's when you get people saying the players don't like him, he doesn't communicate with them, he bullies them, he's lost the dressing room etc. but then you see how he gets them to come together and unite to pull off another GF from an unlikely position and it shows it to be all nonsense.

Re-phrase the question: was the Cas performance the worst you have ever seen in a GF?

I'm struggling to think of a poorer one tbh. But this shouldn't detract from the Leeds showing.

IMO the 2009 final was the most boring that Leeds were involved in, although for purists there were probably fewer errors than 2017.

Maybe it had something to do with the bunch of Cas fans in the beer garden in that boozer opposite Tesco, who persisted on telling anyone who'd listen, that 'Hardaker doesn't matter mate, we'd have to play our 19's for us to be worried about the f***ing Jew boys turning us over'.....we bumped into the same clowns after and pi$$ed ourselves...

Me and the wife are friends with the parents of Jack Walker's girlfriend, they live in the next street and our lad's play Rugby together, so we quite a bit of him. He says the respect the lads have for Mac is second to none, hence the togetherness of the club. On GF day, Mags did all the talking, Mac just sat back and steered the ship. Even let me wear his winners ring and have a pic! Good kid

Never underestimate the importance of a good coach..... driver.

His man management skills must be decent

down to earth with a bump , but they wonder why they are regarded as an odd bunch they are still so insular even in this day and age

Yeah i agree with that in the main. I admit there were times last year when i thought it was possible who could have lost the dressing room, but all the other stuff and personal abuse are made up and uncalled for.

Again my opinion is we could do with change, but like after 2015 it's going to be Mac's decision now and it seems he's staying at least for another year. I don't agree with comments like he should be able to go when he feels the time is right though, that's nonsense and should apply to nobody in any sport. But I've always respected and appreciated what he has achieved with the club and never resorted to personal abuse or making things up to win an argument.

2009 might not have been a great game but it was close unlike this one and also really felt like the ending of the Leeds vs Saints rivalry (even though we'd end up playing again in 2011) and had even trickier VR calls and ones you didn't know which way the decision was going thanks to not having the stupid on field call. The opportunity for us to do the hat trick also made it feel even more important.

2009 was a good game. It was very intense with both teams were going set for set and saints didn't do alot wrong.

My favourite is 2011.

Is that the year Shenton got injured?

2012 was really good too. Showed that it wasn't just a case of having it over Saints and that we really were becoming unbeatable at Old Trafford especially against a side that had done us in two recent cup finals. Sinfield was amazing throughout the playoffs and you had the great moment at the end when Warrington threw the ball out of touch because several of their guys were in back play with Bailey. Still think Michael Monaghan should've seen a card for that head first lunge into Sinfield that almost took him out of the game.

Pity you couldn`t have photographed them and sent it to the Cas club to investigate.
Let`s hope they are the minority amongst the Cas fans.

2009 seems to be the only win without some form of backs to the wall type narrative behind it.

Whether intentionally or not BM can't half create a good ol backs to the wall narrative.

He loves his stories and his narratives.

It didn't have a backs to the wall narrative but obviously the hat trick and also got a bit of stick about the previous two years because Saints had finished 1st so a bit like this year they were the "true champions" according to some. Shut them up with winning the LLS in 2009 and backing it up in the GF.

We're the only team who have never failed in the playoffs when we've won the LLS ('04, '09, '15). We've denied other LLS winners 5 times

Saints 07 & 08 GF
Wire 11 SF
Wigan 12 SF
Cas 17 GF

With all the talk about GF's, we've been involved in some absolute belters in the SF's especially Warrington 2011 and Wigan 2012 both away and given little hope especially the Warrington one.

We just laughed at the backwards $, and reminded them it was 2017 with Gary Hetherington at the helm, not 1988 with Alf Davis and his moneybags. The most ironic one was the fat kid singing 'we all hate Leeds scum', with his Cas shirt and Leeds United hat on

Don't give a flying one about those whinging i thought we were very good from 1-17 errors will always occur in those conditions.
Most are only whinging because poster boys Cas got a RL lesson in how to handle & win a GF.
Just as the old saying goes "The Lesson endeth".

They were great games.

Still remember the Burrow McGuire hall combo for the third try.

The Wigan away was a real gritty performance always remember the three tackles after the Burrow no try.

To be fair we have turned up for every final bar the 2005 one.so many great memories its hard to pick a favourite and you could talk all night about them.

When your club wins a GF:
Is there ever a worst Grand Final of all time thought going through your head when you walk away victorious, irrespective of if your a player or a fan?

The only people that didn't like this years GF winners being the Rhinos yet again are clearly all .............Losers

I thought Peacock was going to pull Carmont's head off. Was it JP, Buchanan and Kylie who bent Mossop in half from the tap?

It's Danny's pass to Ryan that gets me. One handed, over his shoulder, yet he managed to make the ball spin so it stayed true as it just dropped in to Hall's waiting hands. Amazing skills.

Couldn't care less what the armchair viewers thought of it. It isn't about them. It's the 73000 who made the trip over who count and half of them are going home disappointed. Fortunately it wasn't us. You couldn't prise the grin off my mush with a crowbar on the tram after the game. Forgive me for not sparing a thought for the Monday morning quarterbacks sat with their Wotsits and 6 pack!