Rhinos seal historic treble

Leeds made Super League history at Old Trafford by clinching a hat-trick of titles with an 18-10 victory over St Helens in a dramatic Grand Final.

Rugby union-bound Lee Smith ended his Rhinos career with a brace of tries, his second sealing victory towards the end of a pulsating clash between the competition's top two sides.

However it was Kevin Sinfield - the first man to captain a side to four Grand Final triumphs - who was named winner of the Harry Sutherland Trophy after producing a try-saving tackle on Kyle Eastmond, who scored all of St Helens' points, when the game was in the melting pot.

Saints will look back on some decisions that didn't go their way as they fell at the last for a third straight year. They had led 8-0 during the first half and then 11-10 with 20 minutes to play, only to be pegged back on each occasion.

No fairytale

The fact they were unable to hang on denied Sean Long a fairytale finish to his career with the club before he heads off to Hull FC.

It was his likely replacement at scrum-half in Eastmond who broke the deadlock when he just about collected Jon Wilkin's deflected kick before racing over next to the posts, leaving himself a straightforward conversion.

The 20-year-old - one of only two Grand Final rookies amongst the 34 players on display - was also able to kick a 16th minute penalty to extend the gap.

With his team struggling, Leeds coach Brian McClennan sent on heavyweights Ali Lauitiiti and Luke Burgess off the bench to try and spark his side into action. The double introduction reaped immediate dividends.

Both replacements carried the ball in a set of six that ended with Matt Diskin burrowing his way over from dummy half, although Lauitiiti limped off soon afterwards with an ankle problem.

An error from Francis Meli meant the scores were level by the break, his inability to deal with Danny McGuire's neat grubber gifting Smith, who has signed a deal to switch codes and join Wasps, to get the easiest of scores.

The Rhinos would have led at half time had Sinfield slotted over either conversion attempt, though he did manage to find the target with a drop goal two minutes into the second half to put Leeds ahead for the first time.

Ade Gardner had set up the one-pointer by making a mess of the re-start but he came within a whisker of making amends when he brushed the right corner flag just before planting the ball down - it wasn't to be the last time that a ruling by the television official went against Saints.

A high shot on Long allowed Eastmond to kick his third goal of the night but Saints' slender advantage lasted for just six minutes, Keiron Cunningham's interference on Kylie Leuluai allowing Sinfield to make it 11-10.

The Leeds skipper's most telling contribution came at the other end of the field, though, as he came from nowhere to push Eastmond into touch when a try seemed certain.

Controversial decision

Video referee Phil Bentham correctly ruled that the player had been forced out but his decision to award a second try for Smith was much more debatable.

Eager to get on the end of McGuire's grubber, the centre seemed to be offside by a whisker but, after seeing what felt like umpteen replays from numerous angles, the official was adamant both feet were behind the ball as he set off, meaning the try could be awarded.

After 27 regular-season rounds and three hard-fought weeks of the play-offs, the title had come down to a matter of millimetres, meaning Rob Burrow's late, late drop goal just allowed the celebrations to start early.

While the Leeds fans amongst the 63,259 crowd began to party, Saints were resigned to the role of bridesmaids again, hardly the perfect finale to the season for Long or coach Mick Potter, who had taken over from Daniel Anderson after the 24-16 loss 12 months ago.