XIII Oceans

Heroes Not Villains

Over the past forty years I have been fortunate to see some of the greatest achievements in sport.  Teams littered with great individuals, performances of the highest order and feted with superlatives befitting their mantle of champions.  I have seen Wally Lewis, Darren Lockyer, Joe Montana, Lennox Lewis, Allan Border, Lionel Messi, Lothar Mattaus, The West Indies, Ellery Hanley, Keiron Cunningham and Richie Spedding (well  I’ve heard of his exploits).  Now I have seen the Leeds Rhinos of the millennium.

“We all hate Leeds”, so the mantra goes and it’s one that is unlikely to be anything other than enforced by last night’s climax to an incredible end-of-season run.  Now though, it’s time.  It’s time for you to re-arrange your brain.  We moved from resigned acceptance of Leeds as champions through to begrudging respect without apportioning  more to a team containing such apparent underachievers as Sinfield, McGuire, Bailey and Burrow.  Underachievers who have snared their fourth title in five years.  Four titles in five years.  Four titles in five years and every single one of them during not just the professional era but the salary cap era.  Breathtaking underachievement.

Once again Super League’s own Henry V, Kevin Sinfield, gave another faultless performance as he inspired his archers to repel one of the competition’s nobility.  Written off as early as May, we observed the big game club of the past decade become one of the greatest of all-time.  That’s right.  From being the greatest Leeds team ever to one of the best sporting teams we are likely to see.  Whislt Melbourne and Manly have challenged year-on-year so Leeds Rhinos have won year-on-year.  We cannot be faint in lavishing our praise irrespective of your assessment on individual players.  The sum is greater than the parts and, in one of the world’s sports where individual capability can easily be exposed, in four Grand Finals they haven’t been.  Four Grand Final wins over Super League’s most successful silverware securers.

I am tired of barometers of success in our game being that of the international stage.  It does nothing other than denigrate what have been moments of true sporting magic.  We should not be so harsh.  When Steven Gerrard lifted Liverpool not once did I tether his heroics with the weight of international results.  He remains a brilliant footballer.  Believing in international displays as a barometer should not be neglected, however it should not be the only comparison and certainly not at the expense of disregarding outstanding domestic accomplishments.

What we were fortunate to witness last night was a climax worthy of any champion team.  How many European Champions League Finals, Superbowls, World Cup Finals, world heavyweight title fights, FA Cup Finals etc., that demanded performances as great?  Our champions played with passion (to win again), reslience (the come back), commitment (what a goal line stand) and flair (those tries).  Like Barcelona, Manchester United and San Francisco 49ers our champions came to entertain.  We should be proud of that and of what Leeds’ success means to us as a sport.  A team built on the backbone of homegrown talent which should serve as a positive reminder to everybody in Super League, especially Saints fans.  In a great match the defeated can often be overlooked but I doubt this one will because of our interest in their future.  Had Saints lost this sixth Grand Final against a third different team we would probably think more of what they done and like Leeds it is a testament to the character of their players that they were even there.  We must not under appreciate this character on either side because this tetralogy occurred under three different coaches for both teams.  Yep, four Grand Finals and six different coaches involved.  Let that add to the esteem of both teams and let us not forget it when the champions roll into town because these men deserve our respect.  They are heroes, not villains.