Ex-Leeds Rhinos man reveals it is still his dream to win this trophy

Ex-Leeds Rhinos star and former Catalans Dragons coach Matt Adamson has revealed that it is “still in his heart” to win the Challenge Cup.

This was one of the reasons why he joined Leeds Rhinos as he revealed to Serious About Rugby League also praising Gary Hetherington’s role in the signing:

“I’d played Origin that year and he told me a bit about the club. I remember watching the St Helens, Wigans, and Widnes but I wasn’t in tune with who Leeds were, I didn’t know much about them except that my former test teammates Bradley Clyde and Brett Mullins had been there the year before.

“What I loved about Gary was, he said ‘If you want to come to Leeds, here’s your contract. If you don’t, that’s okay I’ll find someone else. I liked that approach because what I think that meant was ‘we believe in our club and our future and we want you to be part of it.’

“I sat down with my wife and I asked her what do you want to do. It’s something I wanted to do all my life. My dream was to win a Challenge Cup, I still have at that dream now to do it in some capacity as a coach or whatever it may be.”

He then said: “It’s still in my heart to be part of a winning Challenge Cup team.”

This is why he has been wanting to return to the club as a coach in pursuit of that dream:

“I’ve been begging Gary for 20 years to come back but every time the opportunity comes up, things fall over at the last minute. But who knows.”

He missed out on Challenge Cup glory in 2003 when the Rhinos lost 22-20 to Bradford Bulls in the Challenge Cup Final.