Rhinos v Saints: Teams
Leeds will be bidding for a hat-trick of Super League titles when they take on familiar Grand Final foes St Helens on Saturday.
By Rob Lancaster
Last Updated: 10/10/09 9:07am
Leeds and St Helens will once again decide who will be crowned Super League champions.
The two rivals, who were first and second in the table at the end of the regular season, go head-to-head at Old Trafford on Saturday night for the third successive year
The Rhinos have come out on top in the past two seasons, rampaging their way to a 33-6 triumph in 2007 before toppling Saints 24-16 12 months ago.
They also won the last meeting between the pair, coming out 18-10 victors back on September 4 in a fiesty game that saw tempers flare.
Discipline
But while he expects another intense game this weekend, Saints coach Mick Potter wants his team to remain disciplined in the heat of battle.
"That was a pretty intense match," he said of the last fixture. "We will need to keep our heads down and really stay disciplined and determined in what we do.
"There may possibly be a bit of that (ill-discipline) but if you get distracted by that sort of thing you lose focus."
Potter, who took over at Saints during the last off-season following the departure of Daniel Anderson, has no new injury concerns in his squad.
Keiron Cunningham, who needed a painkilling injection to play, Matt Gidley and Tony Puletua all came through unscathed in the semi-final win over Wigan at the GPW Recruitment Stadium last Saturday.
St Helens certainly made a case for their defence in the 14-10 result against the Warriors to make sure they would make the now familiar trip to the home of Manchester United - this will be their seventh Grand Final appearance.
For Leeds it will be a fifth game at Old Trafford in the last six years as they bid to claim an unprecedented hat-trick since the switch to summer rugby.
But, despite clinching back-to-back titles, talismanic forward Jamie Peacock insists previous results count for nothing come kick-off time.
History lesson
"I don't think the last two years comes into it," the five-time Grand Final winner, three of which came during his time with Bradford, said. "You can't afford to spend time thinking out that.
"It would be nice to win three in a row but, if you concentrate on that, you've a chance of slipping up. We've got to concentrate on performing and, if we do that, history will take care of itself."
Rhinos coach Brian McClennan has named an unchanged 19-man squad, with Ali Lauitiiti, who has overcome a virus, and Kallum Watkins the two additions to the 17 who defeated Catalans Dragons 27-20 last Friday.
Lee Smith - last year's Harry Sunderland Trophy winner as man of the match - will be making his 102nd and final appearance for Leeds before he switches codes and joins Guinness Premiership club Wasps.
Saints will also be saying their farewells to two of their team - Sean Long and Lee Gilmour are heading for Hull FC and Huddersfield respectively.
If the sides are deadlocked after 80 minutes, sudden-death extra-time will be used to decide who will take home the trophy.
Leeds squad: Webb, Donald, Smith, Senior, Hall, McGuire, Burrow, Leuluai, Peacock, Jones-Buchanan, Lauitiiti, Sinfield, Diskin, Bailey, Kirke, Ablett, Burgess, Worrall, Watkins.
St. Helens squad: Wellens, Gardner, Gidley, Meli, Pryce, Long, Cunningham, Graham, Gilmour, Wilkin, Flannery, Roby, Hargreaves, Puletua, Clough, Eastmond, Fa'asavalu, Dixon, Ashurst.