Deserves a special mention for how well he's turned his confidence and form around this year. From shot to pieces in the cc semi to 2 tries (and v.solid in the air and on kick returns in the final)

It was noticeable that BMcD was having a long embrace and word in his ear at the end of the game (immediately before BMcD was on sky)

The lad has got some heart. He looked a broken man 2 or 3 months back, but he's come through it, and has been one of the best players in the S8s
Think Ablett also deserves a mention, he's probably had the worst season of his career, but saved his best performance for Old Trafford

Gotta say I though Briscoe was finished a few months a go but he clearly has some strong character and seems to have put behind what will probably be the worst spell of his career, one of our to 3 players tonight along with MCGuire and Ward imo

Amazing turnaround what a way to put his demons to rest.

As Big Mac says....belief....what a strong character.

It is absolutely but to carry that lack of confidence so long to then produce on the biggest stage in awful conditions goes above & beyond .

Thank you rain.

My feelings too. He has been a shadow of the player he was up to the end of 2015. But that 2nd half defensive set where he put in 3 or 4 very effective tackles in a row to keep Cas pinned back was heroic stuff. His, Ward's, Watkins' & Parcell's defensive stint (the latter 3 for the full 80 mins) was exceptional. Everyone else's tackling was very effective too - and where we won the day.

He was excellent last night in the pressure situations and gave some good go forward coming out of our half. As Big Jack would say "Defense wins matches" and everyone put in a shift in that regard.

McDermott deserves the kudos for keeping faith with him, again when many of the forum 'experts' were adamant he should be dropped after the Hull game.

Well done t b. Keep it up

this.
not only did McD's handling of Briscoe allow him to play himself back into form, but to put in a great 2 try performance

Only robbed of a three try performance by a pedantic overruling of the on field decision by video referee Bentham. Tremendous commitment by Briscoe given the confines of the Old Trafford pitch for that one. On the other hand his running Roberts off on a kick chase when Walker had a simple catch on was one of the dumbest plays on the night - looked like McGuire agreed.

He's done that a number times this season - Watkins did similar but that was later in the game when it was pretty much done and dusted. If Ryan Morgan hadn't have given away a dumber penalty in Saints semi though we could have been playing someone completely different.

Just watching the game back and very pedantic indeed for the one that was ruled out but his second could've been ruled out for a forward pass by Moon.

Some have said Cas' disallowed try in the first half was harsh for the obstruction. Would've been interesting to see the grounding because looks questionable all be it at normal speed.

Mac and Briscoe deserve huge credit after that cup semi vs hull. Mac for keeping faith, Briscoe for showing immense character

Correct re Ryan Morgan - dumbest play of the season, well spotted by Child.

There was no discernable 'obstruction' caused by Holmes running through the Leeds line that I could see and that's indicative of the mess we've gotten ourselves in to with this godamawfuk interpretation. If not for that Leeds would have not received a penalty all night. I'm old school though, crossing close to the defensive line always used to be and always should be a penalty - I think Gale is old school too which is why he slid the ball through on the first play of the set.

The pass from Moon looked forward but there was still an angle in the closing credits where it looked fine - usually is which makes these calls incredibly difficult to judge and thankfully the video ref doesn't get a say.

The NRL interpretation has always been more relaxed with dummy runners going into/through the line. Its one of the reasons we struggle against the most basic plays at international level, as if you're not used to defending it and are waiting for penalties you're asking to let in tries.