Challenge Cup Final Review: Talkin 'Bout My Generation

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What follows a rise? A fall. This is as true in sport as it is in any other setting. Between 2004 and 2017, Leeds Rhinos won an unprecedented 16 trophies in 13 years. After that, they had two years of relegation battles.

Leeds are not unique in that respect. In football, Liverpool did not win a league title for 30 years after their period of dominance. Manchester United have struggled since the 'class of '92' departed. Arsenal have not won a league title since their 'invincible' year of 2003/04.

The same applies in rugby league. After Wigan's 1980's and 90's era of dominance, they only won one Super League title in the first 14 seasons. Nobody would have foreseen Bradford's fate after they collected their fourth Super League title in 2005. As for St Helens, their 14 major trophies between 1996-2008 compares very favourably with their two in the 2009-2020 period.

Sport is cyclical. It is very rare for a side's dominance to continue ad infinitum. As the Leeds 'golden generation' reached the end of its playing cycle, so did their dominance. A major trophy felt a long way away when they lost at home to Toronto Wolfpack in September 2018, or won just one of their first seven matches of the 2019 season, or got knocked out of the Challenge Cup by Bradford in the same season.

It is testament to the club that they have managed to turn things around so quickly to become competitive. Leeds have not thrown money after high-profile players and coaches. Appointing Richard Agar as head coach was not a 'glamour' appointment. Signing the likes of Alex Mellor and Kruise Leeming were not major statements of intent. Yet these three are examples of dependable, robust individuals who provide the foundations that Leeds so badly needed.

There was one high profile signing. Luke Gale. He proved his worth yesterday. As in the semi-final, he had a solid kicking game and provided a direction that Leeds have so often lacked. With the game heading for a draw, there was no secret of Leeds' gameplan. Get the ball to the centre of the field and allow Gale to kick a drop goal.

He may have missed with his first attempt, but made no mistake with the second. It was arguably that on-field leadership that separated the two sides yesterday. 

Whilst Leeds had an impressive first half, their performance appeared more nervous come the second half, especially as Salford fought back. At 16-12 down going into the final quarter, a lesser side may have folded. The Leeds sides of 2018 or 2019 probably would have. Yesterday, Leeds demonstrated that their 2020 squad is made of sterner stuff.

Their 2020 side is capable of not just competing for, but winning trophies. You get the sense that if they want to make final appearances and trophy wins more regular then more improvement is needed. A more optimistic (and probably realistic view) is that this is a team at the start of a rebuild and they have already started to win trophies.

After a couple of dire years, the feel-good factor has returned to Headingley. The next challenge is to make sure that this generation is going to be one to be talked about in years to come.

Whilst your here, remember to check out our other Cup Final review: A game of Inches

https://thetryline.blogspot.com/2020/10/challenge-cup-final-review-2-game-of.html

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