Leeds Crowned Champions As St Helens Fall Short On Big Stage

Oct 14, 2007 League Freak European Super League News 0

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Leeds have run out 33-6 winners over St Helens to claim the title of Super League Champions for season 2007.

After a slow start in which they were completely dominated by St Helens in the early going, Leeds jumped out to an 8 point lead after a penalty and a quick try against the run of play.

Leeds forward pack is terribly soft, and yet St Helens just didnt take advantage with nothing in attack from dummy half and no pressure being applied up the middle third of the field.

The St Helens backline with shut out of the game due to a terrible performance from Sean Long and the fact that Leon Pryce isn’t a standoff at all.

While St Helens defense was good, Leeds still managed to score their points off opportunist plays.

Its hard to pick out any one player for a Leeds that stood out. Scott Donald had a pretty good game and Brent Webb looked dangerous every time he got the ball but despite the score line, Leeds weren’t outstanding on the night.

It doesn’t sit all that well with me that a team that is as soft up the middle as Leeds is has been able to win the Super League title. Coming from a background in the game where the game is won on defense and a strong pack of forwards, I just hope its not a trend thats we’ll see build in Super League.

One thing I will say is that once again, Danny McGuire looks to me to be the most skillfull British player in the game. For a standoff his ability to get a quality offload in traffic is amazing.

Overall it was a fun match to watch, and thats whats the most important thing for British fans, even if the quality of the actual play on show isn’t at its finest.

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• Brent Webb, Danny McGuire, Leeds Rhinos, Leon Pryce, Scott Donald, Sean Long, St Helens, Super League Grand Final

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