Two of Super League’s oldest and most fearsome rivals collided in Round Five of the Betfred Super League as Leeds Rhinos and St Helens collided at the newly renamed AMT Headingley Stadium. The two have contested five Grand Finals in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011 and 2022 with Leeds winning the first four and the Saints gaining revenge in 2022.
Saints have dominated the rivalry since Leeds Rhinos’ golden generation came to an end in 2017 with an eight Grand Final win this time against Castleford Tigers. Since then, Leeds have only beaten St Helens twice once in 2018 and once in 2023 but haven’t beaten the 10-time Super League Champions at Headingley since 2017.
After a blistering start from the Rhinos which nearly saw Harry Newman open the deadlock, Leeds struck first which was fair on the balance of play. A bombing Brodie Croft pass found Luis Roberts in space and he powered over to make it 6-0. Leeds maintained the momentum with Lachie Miller producing some magic moment and Leeds would further their lead to 8-0 via a Rhyse Martin penalty.
However, St Helens are a champion side and they stuck in there and hit back with a try from Waqa Blake from a patted back kick to make it 8-6 at halftime.
The start of the second half was end to end but Saints would eventually claim the lead after a lovely play led to a Jon Bennison try. Saints then scored in the very next set through a Moses Mbye scoot and they led 18-8.
That’s how the game would stay as Leeds ran out of steam and St Helens finished strongly.
Konrad Hurrell has his say on Leeds Rhinos chants
Credit: Imago Images
The game marked yet another time former Leeds Rhinos star Konrad Hurrell has returned to Headingley since his surprise move to St Helens under his international coach Kristian Woolf at the end of the 2021 season.
It was a move that saw Hurrell score in the 2022 Grand Final win over Leeds Rhinos. One of the best characters in the league, Hurrell was once beloved by the Leeds Rhinos faithful but now at Headingley he gets showered in boos and some very harsh chants some of which are quite brutal.
However, Hurrell has responded like a champ on X. He said of the “banter”: “Friday night at Headingley, how good? Love the banters tonight. See you again next week. Thanks to our traveling fans, we appreciate you and thank you and hope to see you all again next week.”
