Everything about Leeds Rhinos totally explained
Leeds Rhinos, or informally
Rhinos, are an
English professional rugby league football club based in
Leeds,
West Yorkshire. They are the current
European and
World champions. Leeds introduced the
Rhinos nickname and
logo in 1997. They are also one of the original twenty-two rugby clubs that formed the
Northern Rugby Football Union in 1895, making them one of the world's first rugby league teams.
The club's home is the 22,250-seater
Headingley Carnegie Stadium, which is in the
suburb of
Headingley, north-west Leeds, where they've played since 1890. Leeds are one of the oldest clubs in the world and are owned by the same company that also run the
Leeds Carnegie rugby union team. The club are the joint-second most successful rugby league team in England (along with
St Helens) behind
Wigan Warriors, as judged by the number of
Challenge Cups won.
The Rhinos are the best-supported rugby team of either code throughout
Great Britain.
History
Early years
In 1864, H.I. Jenkinson placed an advert in the Leeds Mercury inviting players to meet up at Woodhouse Moor a few days a week from 7am to 8am. That advert attracted over 500 members. From this interest several clubs were formed including Leeds St John's.
Leeds St John's were formed in 1870 and were originally known as the "Old Blue and Ambers". They played at the Militia Barracks from 1870 to 1888 before moving to Cardigan Fields, near
Headingley, Leeds. Membership was originally confined to the church classes but was soon expanded. By 1887 St John's had reached their first cup final, the Yorkshire Cup. They lost to
Wakefield Trinity.
In 1888 the Cardigan Estate was sold at auction and Lot 17a was purchased by a group of Leeds citizens, who intended to form the city's leading sports club. Lot 17a became what is now Headingley Stadium.
Leeds St John's played their final season under that name in 1889-90, before becoming the football section of Leeds Cricket, Football and Athletic Co Ltd the following season. With Headingley still being completed, Leeds' first game was staged at Cardigan Fields, the home side defeating Otley. The first game at Headingley was played on September 20, 1890, when Manningham were beaten by one try and one dropped goal to nil.
In 1892 some 27,654 spectators - a then record in British rugby - attended the third round showdown between Leeds and Halifax at Headingley.
Leeds were founder members of the
Northern Union when it broke away from the
Rugby Football Union in 1895. Leeds' debut in the Northern Union was a 6-3 success at Leigh on September 7, 1895, the inaugural day of the new competition.
Leeds City FC joined soccer's Second Division in 1905-06, and finished sixth out of 20 clubs in their first season. Rugby's monopoly with the locals seemed to have been broken, with Leeds Rugby League's average gate numbers falling by nearly 50% in that first League season.
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The Headingley club reached the Championship final for the first time in 1915, but were beaten 35-2 by Huddersfield.
In 1921,
Harold Buck became the game’s first £1,000 transfer when he moved from
Hunslet to Leeds.
On Saturday 27th October 1934, Leeds and Wakefield Trinity met in the final of the Yorkshire Cup at Crown Flatt, Dewsbury. The match ended in a 5-5 draw. Four days later the two clubs drew again, with Leeds eventually lifting the trophy after a second replay, the only occasion it took three attempts to settle a Yorkshire Cup Final. A total of 52,402 spectators watched the three games.
Leeds won the Challenge Cup in 1941 and 1942.
Post-war
Joe Warham came to Leeds as coach in 1958.
During the 1960s and 1970s,
The Loiners (as they were then nicknamed) established themselves as a dominant force recording three Challenge Cups and three title wins during this period.
Leeds were crowned Champions for the first time in 1961 with
Lewis Jones leading them to a 25-10 victory over Warrington in the Championship Final at Odsal Stadium, Bradford.
Leeds contested perhaps the most memorable of all Wembley occasions, the "watersplash final" of 1968, which was played despite a downpour that saturated the pitch. It produced the most dramatic of finishes, when Man-of-the-Match (Lance Todd trophy winner), Don Fox had the easiest of conversions to win it for Wakefield Trinity, but missed it to leave Leeds 11-10 winners.
The Championship trophy returned to Headingley in 1969 after a tough final against Castleford. Remarkably, Leeds were coached to the championship again by
Joe Warham, also coach for their first success in 1961, Joe having returned to the fray on an interim basis following the departure of coach Roy Francis.
On Tuesday 15 December 1970, Leeds played St Helens in the final of the
BBC2 Floodlit Trophy. Saints began well in the final and took the lead after ten minutes, withstood the early Saints onslaught and ended up winning 9-5.
Coached by Rocky Turner Leeds returned to Wembley in 1971 and 1972 but lost out both times - in 1971 losing to rank outsiders Leigh and suffering the indignity of captain Syd Hynes being the first man to 'take an early bath' at Wembley. A third championship, in 1972, provided consolation.
Eric Ashton (former Wigan and Great Britain centre) coached Leeds for the 1973-74 season.
In 1975-76 the club won the Yorkshire Cup beating
Hull Kingston Rovers 15-11.
In the 1976-77 season, the Salford versus Leeds match was abandoned after 38 minutes when Chris Sanderson of Leeds suffered a fatal injury. Leeds were ahead 5-2, but the game was declared null and void and not replayed. The club recovered to win the Challenge Cup at the end of that season. They repeated that successs in 1978, in a classic final against St Helens at
Wembley Stadium with Leeds completing what was then a record comeback. Former captain Syd Hynes was coach on both occasions. However these victories were the 'last hurrah' of the great sixties and seventies sides and a barren spell followed in the eighties.
Leeds made it to the
John Player Trophy final four times in the eighties and nineties, losing to Wigan 15-4 in 1983, beating Widnes 18-10 in 1984, losing 15-14 to St Helens 1988 and losing to Widnes 24-0 in 1992. Leeds did, however, win the 1988
Yorkshire Cup beating Castleford 33-12 in the final at
Elland Road.
Leeds eventually hauled themselves back to the top of the game with a
Challenge Cup final appearance in 1994 against
Wigan. The game was memorable for a length of the field try by
Martin Offiah, considered by many to be one the greatest
tries ever scored. However, many often forget that Leeds's own
Francis Cummins, making his record-breaking appearance as the youngest-ever Challenge Cup player, scored his own length of the field try, evading both Offiah and legendary Wigan skipper "Mean"
Dean Bell. Despite the loss, this wasn't a one off appearance and Leeds did return again a year later. They faced rivals Wigan for the second consecutive season and were beaten more easily, the game being memorable because of a try from
Jason Robinson.
Super League
1996 marked the beginning of summer rugby and major transition for the renamed Leeds Rhinos.
Dean Bell took over as head coach following his retirement as a player. Leeds experienced great financial difficulty and flirted with relegation but eventually managed to haul themselves out. Bell then became academy team coach in 1997. The turnaround was quick and the Rhinos once again found their way to the top, facing Wigan in the inaugural Grand Final in 1998 at
Old Trafford, Manchester. The Rhinos were edged out 10-4 in a tense and very evenly matched game.
Iestyn Harris joined Leeds for a record breaking £350,000 transfer in 1997. He was appointed captain in his first full season at the age of only 21. Leeds were not to be denied, and in the next season recorded their first Challenge Cup victory for over 20 years and first silverware in a decade, with a convincing 52-16 win over
London at Wembley. In the next season, after a nightmare opening, Leeds put themselves in a position to defend this trophy when they met Yorkshire rivals
Bradford at
Murrayfield, Edinburgh. It wasn't to be and after a poor start from the Rhinos the Bulls edged them out by 6 points.
Daryl Powell became coach of the Leeds Rhinos after he retired from playing in 2001. Once again a period of transition loomed for Leeds, with many youngsters emerging and taking the place of experienced first team members. Under coach Darryl Powell the Rhinos gradually rebuilt and after a 3 year absence once again made the Challenge Cup final in 2003 to face Bradford. Leeds were once again edged out in a very tense game 22-20 in front of 71,212 fans at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff. The game was memorable for the Leeds captain
Kevin Sinfield who spurned the opportunity of 2 points to level up the game with just minutes left.
Powell became Director of Rugby in 2003 and the Rhinos appointed
Tony Smith as Head Coach.
In 2004 the Rhinos finally shed the 'bridesmaid' tag and eventually picked up their first title in 32 years with a win over Bradford Bulls 16-8 in the Grand Final at
Old Trafford in front of a sell-out crowd. They then followed this by winning the
World Club Challenge beating
Australian side
Canterbury Bulldogs 39-32 in front of 37,028 spectators at
Elland Road, Leeds.
This success was to be short lived, as in 2005 the Rhinos lost their third consecutive Challenge Cup final. This time they were narrowly edged out by resurgent Yorkshire rivals
Hull 24-25. The Rhinos then lost the Grand Final the same season, once again thwarted by arch rivals Bradford Bulls 15-6. It was the 7th final the Rhinos had lost in 10 years.
In preparation for the
2006 season coach Tony Smith signed
Great Britain forward Jamie Peacock, Australian flyer
Scott Donald and powerful front-rower
Mark O'Neill. They replaced the outgoing
Papua New Guinea international
Marcus Bai, former
Australian cap
Chris McKenna and young
winger Mark Calderwood
The
2006 season was a disappointing one for the Rhinos. They finished third in the
Super League XI table, but lost in their first play-off game against
Warrington Wolves. They also suffered a disappointing defeat to
Huddersfield Giants in the semi finals of the
Challenge Cup.
For the 2007 season, Leeds have captured the signature of
New Zealand Warriors' centre
Clinton Toopi and full back
Brent Webb and also made the permanent signings of
Hull prop forward
Jamie Thackray and
Manly's
Kylie Leuluai while
Chev Walker and
Ritchie Mathers leaving to join
Bath RUFC and the
Gold Coast Titans respectively.
2007 got off to the best possible start with 2 wins from 2, without playing to their full potential. However, defeat in
France ended Leeds' unbeaten start, but Leeds have recovered and look to have the edge on all teams as they near the half way point in the season.
Tony Smith decided to leave to take up the post as coach of
Great Britain. Leeds finished 2nd after the 27 regular rounds, and lost 10-8 at
St Helens in the grand final eliminator in what many of the players described as the most brutal and tough game of their careers. Leeds then played a resurgent
Wigan side at Headingley Carnegie and produced a brilliant performance to beat the Warriors 36-6. Leeds triumphed at the grand final in spectacular circumstances, beating
St Helens 33-6 in front of over 71,000 spectators, with tries from
Brent Webb,
Ali Lauitiiti,
Scott Donald,
Lee Smith &
Jamie Jones-Buchanan, as well as 12 points from
Kevin Sinfield(meaning he'd scored in every match this season), ensured departing coach Tony Smith, now arguably the greatest coach in the club's history, left on a euphoric note.
Rob Burrow was named man of the match winning the Harry Sunderland Trophy.
The Leeds Rhinos played a match in the
USA against
South Sydney Rabbitohs for the first time. The game marked the first international Rugby League match held in the USA. The match was played on January 26 2008 at
Hodges Stadium -
University of North Florida with the Leeds Rhinos overcoming South Sydney 26 - 24. Jacksonville's very own American National Rugby League team the
Jacksonville Axemen are kindly helping host the teams while they're in Jacksonville and are organizing all ticket sales. This was part of the Australia Day festivities and for more information visit the
Australia Day Challenge web site.
The Leeds Rhinos beat
Melbourne Storm 11–4 at
Elland Road on
February 29 in the
2008 World Club Challenge, earning them bragging rights as the best club team in the world. A
Scott Donald try combined with a successful
drop goal attempt by
Kevin Sinfield secured the monumentous win in front of a crowd of 33,204.
Stadium
Leeds currently play at
Headingley Carnegie Rugby Stadium. The ground now has a capacity of 22,250 including Some seating and some standing areas.
Mascot
Ronnie The Rhino is the Leeds Rhinos mascot. He attempts to get the crowd going pre-match, and at half-time he normally gets children involved by playing some sort of game. The current "Ronnie the Rhino" is Steve Beck. Beck often drives to perform Ronnie already in the "Ronnie Suit", however this has caused controversy due to the high number of near-misses he's on the road. Beck said that although his vision is seriously impaired by the suit, he feels it's an acceptable risk as he doesn't want the children to stop believing in the magic of Ronnie which he feels would happen if he turned up and they saw him get into the suit.
Honours
- World Club Challenge: 2005, 2008 (twice)
- Championship (including Super League): 1960–61, 1968–69, 1971–72, 2004, 2007 (5 times)
- Challenge Cup: 1909–10, 1922–23, 1931–32, 1935–36, 1940–41, 1941–42, 1956–57, 1967–68, 1976–77, 1977–78, 1999 (11 times)
- Premiership: 1974–75, 1978–79 (twice)
- Yorkshire Cup: 1921–22, 1928–29, 1930–31, 1932–33, 1934–35, 1935–36, 1937–38, 1958–59, 1968–69, 1970–71, 1972–73, 1973–74, 1975–76, 1976,77, 1979–80, 1980–81, 1988–89 (17 times)
- Yorkshire League: 1901–02, 1927–28, 1930–31, 1933–34, 1934–35, 1936–37, 1950–51, 1954–55, 1956–57, 1960–61, 1966–67, 1967–68, 1968–69, 1969–70 (14 times)
- Regal Trophy: 1972–73, 1983–84 (twice)
2008 Squad
As of 1 February 2008
Run-on Team 2008
Subs
14 Ali Lauitiiti
16 Ryan Bailey
17 Nick Scruton
18 Ian Kirke
19 Carl Ablett
20 Ashley Gibson
21 Jordan Tansey
22 Ryan Hall
23 Danny Williams
24 Luke Burgess
2007 Signings/Transfers
Gains
Further Information
Get more info on 'Leeds Rhinos'.
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