This is not about Leeds legends, says McDermott
He is in line for Man of Steel, has scored 19 tries and created 14 and is the player Leeds Rhinos fear most tonight. Dave Craven reports.
LEEDS RHINOS’ coach Brian McDermott says past experience means his side will not let the emotion of club legends Danny McGuire and Rob Burrow playing their last Headingley game disrupt their attempt to reach another Super League Grand Final.
The brilliant duo will pull on the blue and amber for potentially the last time tonight as Leeds seek to beat Hull FC to claim a place in next week’s showpiece occasion at Old Trafford.
Captain McGuire is moving to Hull KR next season while hooker Rob Burrow is retiring, the 34-year-olds both having played more than 400 games for Rhinos and starred in all seven of the club’s Grand Final wins.
Everyone at the West Yorkshire club wants to see them off as champions once more, just as Leeds did with fellow icons Kevin Sinfield, Jamie Peacock and Kylie Leuluai during their 2015 treblewinning campaign.
“There is a fairytale ending for those two and we need to beat Hull on Friday for that to happen,” McDermott told The Yorkshire
Post, their semi-final rivals intent on adding a maiden Super League title to the Challenge Cup they retained at Wembley last month.
“But we have experience through this when Peacock and Sinfield retired a couple of years ago and everyone was trying to make it out to be about them.
“It wasn’t. They said at the time it wasn’t. They stood in front of the players and said, ‘don’t make it about us. Let’s just go out there and play well’.
“Yes, it’s a nice ‘to do’ thing for them (McGuire/Burrow).
“And if there’s three minutes left on the clock, we’re four points in front and we need to defend Hull’s continuous possession for those last three minutes, I’m sure in that scenario Mags and Rob may have a bearing on the desire of the team to keep getting off the deck to play.
“But, at the start of the game, you take the emotion out of it; you nail your game plan and try to be as good as the team can be.”
Leeds will certainly need to be good, arguably better than at any point this season.
Admittedly, they finished second, five points clear of thirdplaced Hull, who have a wretched recent record against the Rhinos and have not won at Headingley since 2007.
However, the East Yorkshire club delivered a stunning master class to beat Leeds 43-24 in the Challenge Cup semi-final two months ago, a stellar display Lee Radford’s side hope to reprise this evening.
McDermott admitted that defeat – “we weren’t that bad, Hull just nailed it” – has been discussed in the build-up to tonight’s game.
He said: “It gets mentioned. It’s not a big factor, but I won’t tell you a lie and say we never mention it. Of course we do; they beat us in the Challenge Cup semi-final.
“But that was a while ago now. Hull are playing a little bit different. We’re a little different.
“Both teams have a different momentum behind them to that time.
“You can’t take a blueprint of that game and say, ‘let’s just change a few things’ as we’re further down the track now, the weather’s different and the team is as well.
“It’s a really exciting time. Now the season’s done and dusted, we can look forward to this knockout game and it’s brilliant.
“We know we will get tested by Hull and if we don’t win we’re gone; that’s the end of the season.
“It’s a really harsh environment we play in on Friday, but it’s what we’ve played 30 rounds to do.”
Leeds, of course, were in the Qualifiers last year, having spent most of the campaign near the bottom of Super League.
Their response in 2017 has been excellent even if they remained in the shadows of Castleford’s eye-catching charge to the League Leaders’ Shield, suffering some painful losses earlier on.
“From some early-season form there’s been a huge turnaround in how we play, how we defend, our attitude to some big games and our attitude to adversity, so it’s been a really positive season,” continued McDermott.
“But we want to win something as well; there’s an achievement in itself to be 80 minutes away from another Grand Final, but nobody is going to read that in the history books.
“They will only read about the winners and that’s what we’re about.”
Hull lost at this stage 12 months ago to eventual champions Wigan Warriors and they have still not reached a Grand Final since their solitary appearance in 2006.
Leeds’s greater experience could tell, but McDermott argued: “I think Hull have enough experience on the big stage just recently.
“They have two Challenge Cup final victories – they have more experience in finals than we have over the last two seasons. In recent history, they’re better than us. I’m not going to go in thinking we’ll be okay because of what happened four, five or six years ago.”
IT is with wonderful simplicity how Albert Kelly assesses Hull FC’s Super League semi-final against Leeds Rhinos tonight.
The Australian stand-off ’s side must win at Headingley for the first time since 2007 to reach Old Trafford where they have not even been since 12 months further back still.
Hull have never won a Grand Final. They have not won a league title since 1983.
So it is an obvious question to ask what it would feel like if they could, then, shatter that record and now go all the way in the competition, which must begin with victory in that sudden-death contest at Headingley.
“I just see it as another game to me,” explains the maverick Kelly.
“I’m not much into stats; I just want to go in, get the result... and get out.”
It is much like the way he plays; opponents may not see him for long periods but then Kelly will break them with a devilish sidestep, a burst of speed or impromptu kick and suddenly they are stood behind their own posts wondering what happened.
Go in. Get the spoils. Get out. Reverential Leeds fans will have all eyes on their own half-backs, the iconic Danny McGuire and Rob Burrow, who could be playing their final Rhinos game tonight.
But their side will undoubtedly be warily watching the coiled spring that is Kelly.
There are plenty of reasons why he is shortlisted with Castleford Tigers duo Luke Gale and Zak Hardaker for the Man of Steel which will be announced on Tuesday night.
As much as he does not like stats, the basic ones show Kelly has scored 19 tries in Super League this term and created another 14 for his team-mates; he has brought a crucial added attacking component to Lee Radford’s double-chasing side.
Now he needs to seek some of that dynamism all over again to secure a spot in that Grand Final. “Everyone needs to step up,” insisted the 26-year-old, who has been a revelation in his debut campaign after leaving Hull KR.
“This game is that stepping stone to the big dance and if you don’t step up, you step down.
“Every player will be going in mentally and physically ready to perform for 80 minutes and do all the little things to get the result.
“That’s what a big-game performance is and it’s what we need.”
Hull, importantly, have recent experience of doing just that, having beaten Leeds in the Challenge Cup semi-final on the way to back-to-back Wembley triumphs.
Kelly was man-of-the-match that afternoon but he added: “Leeds are a very tough team, very expansive.
“We know what’s at stake – we’re 80 minutes away from Old Trafford – but we need to execute our plan to a tee to get this result; the one per centers have to be there.”
It was no surprise the former Gold Coast Titans star was selected as stand-off in the Super League Dream Team earlier this week although Kelly was a little taken aback.
“My main goal was just to enjoy my football this season,” he said, after his two-year stint at the Robins ended in acrimony.
“Everything else is a bonus. I just wanted to get back out there because I love the game and I love playing it. To be enjoying it again is the main thing.”
Asked if that meant he had not been enjoying life across the city at Hull KR, Kelly responded: “I just wanted to find that spark and probably a change was needed.
“Now I have got that smile back on my face, playing the greatest game of all. I just want to ride it as long as I can.”
Which is great news for Hull fans but worrying for those Leeds supporters hoping to see their side reach a 10th Grand Final tonight.