The End of Term Report - Part Five

Leeds were league leaders of this season's competition until round seventeen. Least you forget that when anyone says Saints were the better team by a country mile. They weren't the best team over twenty seven rounds as everyone suggested. Yes, they were the better side during the regular season, but their performances have been over-hyped.

And this was evident going into the Grand Final. Finally, I go through the two finalists of the 2008 Super League season.

Leeds
Some say that the play offs are not fair and do not award the best team in the competition with the rightful title of being champions. So what! In my opinion a championship winning side is one that is consistently good, and can perform in big games. Leeds did this during the 2008 campaign. Not once did they fall into third place from February to September and they were able to pull off wins when it counted, 4th October being a prime example. Their players haven't set the world alight like they once did many moons ago. But they have stayed near the top and did so for a long period of time. Without a doubt Leeds deserved to win the competition and did so in style, pulling off a magnificent victory againt the overwhelming favourites. The team are a credit to the city and the county on the other side of the Pennines.

St Helens
Any Saints fan would be forgiven for thinking they were still in 2007. It was a sort of deva vu when the final hooter went at Old Trafford. Saints, overwhelming favourites going into the final match of the domestic year, clinching the League Leaders Shield and Challenge Cup at Wembley. The only thing missing was a World Club Championship from last year. So where did it all go wrong for Daniel Anderson and his merry men full full of confidence going into the biggest game of the year? Simply put, Saints were outplayed over eighty minutes when it counted. When everything is gambled in one game. When an entire season rests on what you do at the theatre of dreams. Well for the past two years, its been the theatre of nightmares for St Helens, much to the amusement of Wigan, Warrington and the rest of Super League. But credit must be given where its due. They are not a championship winning side, but by God they did everything else right.