Leeds Rhinos

Leeds Rhinos

File:Leeds.GIF
Club information
Full name	Leeds Rhinos Rugby League Football Club
Nickname(s)	Rhinos The Loiners
Founded	1864
Current details
Ground(s)	Headingley Carnegie Stadium (22,250)
Chairman	Paul Caddick
Coach	Brian McClennan
Captain	Kevin Sinfield
Competition	Super League
Uniforms
Home colours Away colours
Records
Challenge Cups	11 times

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 have 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.[1]

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 paid the stand-off Vic Hey a then-record £1,400 signing-on fee to bring him away from Australia, Vic was seen as a major loss to the Australian game and this contributed to the RFL imposeing a ban on international transfers which lasted until 1940.

In 1938, Leeds played Swinton in the Rugby League Championship semi-final. Leeds won the match 5 points to 2 to set up a history making all-Leeds clash with neighbours Hunslet in the final. The match was played at the Elland Road football ground, to accommodate a huge demand from the city’s rugby league supporters. Over 54,000 people watched the game, a then record for a match in England, Hunslet triumphed 8-2 to take the title.[2]

Leeds won the Challenge Cup in 1941 and 1942.

Post-war

Following the Second World War the Leeds club struggled to make a serious impact in rugby league despite having a financial advantage over the majority of its competitors.

It wasn’t until the late fifties, when the club secured its first post-war Challenge Cup victory, that the young side being built began to show signs of maturing into a dominant force in English Rugby League. Joe Warham came to Leeds as coach in 1958 and a Yorkshire Cup triumph followed, but the side still lacked enough quality to compete at the top of the Lancashire section of the competition in which it was then playing.

The turning point for the club came in 1960 when Dai Prosser was appointed to assist Joe with the coaching duties and the club signed a new back three of Jack Fairbank, Bryan Shaw and Dennis Goodwin to strengthen the forward pack. During the 1960s and 1970s, The Loiners (as they were then nicknamed) established themselves as a dominant force.

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.

Under the guidance of Roy Francis, Leeds finished top of the league and 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 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.

Francis then decided he had achieved everything he could at Leeds and quit the club to take up a coaching position in Australia, Joe Wardham took charge as coach on an interim basis midway through the 1969 campaign. The Championship trophy returned to Headingley for the second time in 1969 after a tough final against Castleford at Odsal Stadium.

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 24-7 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 success 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 was not 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 was not 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.

The new Carnegie Stand at the rugby ground

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 had 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 are 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

Main article: Headingley 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.

Ronnie the rhino, the mascot of Leeds Rhinos

Mascot

Main article: Ronnie The Rhino

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 has on the road. Beck said that although his vision is seriously impaired by the suit, he feels it is an acceptable risk as he does not 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

Main article: Leeds Rhinos 2008

As of 16 June 2008

Nationality	Squad No	Player	Position	App	Tries	Goals	DG	Points
	1	Brent Webb	Full-Back	17	10	0	0	40
	2	Scott Donald	Wing	17	17	0	0	68
	3	Clinton Toopi	Centre	4	0	0	0	0
	4	Keith Senior	Centre	17	10	0	0	40
	5	Lee Smith	Wing	10	4	0	0	16
	6	Danny McGuire	Stand-Off	12	7	0	0	28
	7	Rob Burrow	Scrum-Half	17	12	6	0	60
	8	Kylie Leuluai	Prop	15	3	0	0	12
	9	Matt Diskin	Hooker	16	4	0	0	16
	10	Jamie Peacock	Prop	15	2	0	0	8
	11	Jamie Jones-Buchanan	Second-Row	10	3	0	0	12
	12	Gareth Ellis	Second-Row	15	2	0	0	8
	13	Kevin Sinfield (C)	Loose-Forward	17	2	74	0	156
	14	Ali Lauitiiti	Second-Row	11	4	0	0	16
	16	Ryan Bailey	Prop	14	0	0	0	0
	17	Nick Scruton	Prop	15	1	0	0	4
	18	Ian Kirke	Second-Row	4	1	0	0	4
	19	Carl Ablett	Second-Row	14	3	0	0	12
	20	Ashley Gibson	Centre	1	0	0	0	0
	21	Jordan Tansey	Scrum Half	12	2	0	0	8
	22	Ryan Hall	Wing	8	3	0	0	12
	23	Danny Williams	Wing	4	0	0	0	0
	24	Luke Burgess	Prop	11	3	0	0	12
	25	Danny Allan	Loose Forward	0	0	0	0	0
	26	Ben Kaye	Hooker	3	1	0	0	4
	27	Michael Ratu	Centre	0	0	0	0	0
	28	Simon Worrall	Second Row	8	1	0	0	4
	29	Luke Gale	Scrum Half	0	0	0	0	0
	30	Michael Haley	Prop	0	0	0	0	0
	31	Paul McShane	Hooker	0	0	0	0	0
	32	Kallum Watkins	Centre	2	1	0	0	4
	33	Joe Chandler	Prop	0	0	0	0	0
	34	Ben Jones-Bishop	Full Back	0	0	0	0	0
	35	Eric Anselme	Second Row	3	2	0	0	8

2007 Signings/Transfers

Gains

Player	Previous Club	Years Signed	Until the End of
Luke Burgess	Doncaster RLFC	Resigned
Danny Williams	Castleford Tigers	Resigned
Eric Anselme	Albi	Loan (4 Months)

2008 Fixtures/Results

2008 Engage Super League

Rd	Home Team	Score	Away Team	Result (W/D/L)	Attendance
F	Leeds Rhinos	18 – 26	Wakefield Trinity Wildcats	L
F	Hunslet Hawks	6 – 50	Leeds Rhinos	W
F	Featherstone Rovers	20 – 42	Leeds Rhinos	W
F	Leeds Rhinos	50 – 4	Oldham	W
F	Leeds Rhinos	26 – 24	South Sydney Rabbitohs	W	12,500
4*	Leeds Rhinos	20 – 12	Hull KR	W	18,467
1	Huddersfield Giants	10 – 30	Leeds Rhinos	W	15,620
2	Wakefield Trinity Wildcats	8 – 44	Leeds Rhinos	W	9,863
3	Leeds Rhinos	34 – 6	Catalans Dragons	W	14,083
WCC	Leeds Rhinos	11 – 4	Melbourne Storm	W	33,204
5	Castleford Tigers	38 – 20	Leeds Rhinos	L	9,459
6	Leeds Rhinos	48 – 0	Harlequins	W	14,557
7	Leeds Rhinos	44 – 2	Bradford Bulls	W	19,296
8	Hull FC	4 – 30	Leeds Rhinos	W	14,113
9	St Helens	10 – 14	Leeds Rhinos	W	11,188
10	Leeds Rhinos	10 – 14	Wigan Warriors	L	18,769
11	Leeds Rhinos	32 – 12	Warrington Wolves	W	16,327
CCC4	Leeds Rhinos	38 – 16	Celtic Crusaders	W	5,087
12	Hull KR	22 – 36	Leeds Rhinos	W	9,391
13**	Bradford Bulls	26 – 40	Leeds Rhinos	W	30,628
CCC4	Harlequins RL	26 – 36	Leeds Rhinos	W	2,300
14	Leeds Rhinos	58 – 12	Wakefield Trinity Wildcats	W	17,647
15	Bradford Bulls	14 – 30	Leeds Rhinos	W	14,013
CCC5	Leeds Rhinos	23 – 16	Wigan Warriors	W	10,129
16	Leeds Rhinos	38 – 22	Hull FC	W	16,886
17	Harlequins RL	28 – 24	Leeds Rhinos	L	3,769
18	Leeds Rhinos	12 – 26	St Helens	L	18,303
19	Leeds Rhinos		Castleford Tigers
20	Wigan Warriors		Leeds Rhinos
21	Leeds Rhinos		Huddersfield Giants
22	Catalans Dragons		Leeds Rhinos
CCCSF***	Leeds Rhinos		St Helens
23	Warrington Wolves		Leeds Rhinos
24	Leeds Rhinos		Bradford Bulls
25	Leeds Rhinos		Castleford Tigers
26	Wigan Warriors		Leeds Rhinos
27	Wakefield Trinity Wildcats		Leeds Rhinos
ESL PO1
ESL PO2
ESL PO3	Loser of 1st vs 2nd		Winner of ESL PO2
ESL GF ****	Winner of 1st vs 2nd		Winner of ESL PO3

*Round 4 played before round one to accommodate World Club Challenge on Round 4 weekend

**Round 13 played at Millennium Stadium,Cardiff.

***Carnegie Challenge Cup Semi-Final played at the Galpharm Stadium, Huddersfield

****engage Super League Grand Final to be played at Old Trafford, Manchester.

Notable Former players

• Iestyn Harris
• Lewis Jones
• John Holmes
• Francis Cummins

• Gary Schofield
• Ellery Hanley
• David Ward
• Barrie McDermott

• Adrian Morley
• Leroy Rivett
• Bobbie Goulding
• Barry Seabourne
• Mick Shoebottom

Coaching Set-Up

Nationality	Staff Name	Position
	Brian McClennan	Head Coach
	Francis Cummins	Assistant Coach
	Willie Poching	Assistant Coach
	Aleks Gross	Match Analyst
	Billy Watts	Time-Keeper
	Jason Davidson	Head Conditioner
	Meirion Jones	Head Physiotherapist
	Rob Wilson	Masseur

See also

• Sport in Leeds

External links

• Current Super League Table (Sportbox)
• Official Club site
• Super League Site
• Australia Day Challenge
• leedsrhinos.biz | Unofficial Leeds Rhinos News & Views

Sources

• Rhinos: history and facts
• Leedsrhinos.biz: history and facts