It teamed it down in 98 and 99 but I don't remember the same level of handling errors. A fair few of the cas errors were also unforced, they really stunk the place out.

I just don't get the criticism aimed at Leeds. Like some have already said, I don't think the result was in doubt after 10 minutes. Stevie Ward said in his post match interview 'listen mate, we could play until next week, and we're not losing that game'. That's not arrogance, just how the players felt, and so it showed. I've never pretended to be a huge fan of Mac, and don't understand a lot of his methods, but I must congratulate the man on his perfect game plan, and his record speaks for itself. Maybe he sees the game in a different light to some of us, but from what I've been told, the players worship him so that'll do for me. Just another great moment from this special club.

Sore losers. Had it not been for Leeds giving up on 79.46 seconds it would have been the first Nil game!

most of its sour grapes. there was a lot of dropped ball. but as stated it was raining for like 20 hours solid. our game plan and more importantly the execution of it was perfection. it was not a great spectacle for neutrals, but for purists and dare i say it. people who have actually played the game, it was a complete performance.

also think as we did not play to the script and we were meant to turn up and roll over, this as irked a few people who lets face it don't like us winning it all the time.

i actually feel for some of the Cas team, the comments from some of their own fans are poor, bottled it, did not perform, did not try, did not want it, they clearly no nothing of the game, don't think any cas players did not try or bottled anything, it was just not their day and they got well beat by a superior side.

You can count the number of great finals on one hand from a neutral perspective, including the Challenge Cup, and going back further than Super League started. Finals are all about grinding it out, rarely about quality. The final is more about the occasion and the atmosphere around it than the spectacle of the players. As a neutral, and more so those watching on TV, yes I can see it might not be appealing, especially when most fans are biased anyway to a favoured team in a final. But the final is about the two teams there, and experiencing the occasion of it, and that is what makes a good final to them. If those neutrals want it to appeal to them, that will only really happen if their team are there, good luck with that.

I agree. With the bad weather, the Hardaker fiasco and seeing the Cas line up i was very confident just before kick off. You could tell very early with the Cas game plan and McGuire being 'on it' that the game was ours for the taking. I don't think Cas lacked bottle, effort or whatever else it was just going to take something special on that night in them circumstances to beat us and with all things mentioned and the wrong game plan to boot it was never going to happen. tbh think Cas did well to keep the score respectable in the end considering the how much better we were at controling the game.

I think Powell is a great coach, but he is still to find the formula for really big games and we keep saying his teams will learn but they don't seem to be even getting close in them really.

The green eyed monster likes to squeal at times.
Look in the record books "2017 BetFred Super League Champions Leeds Rhinos"

Yep. and lets be honest, 99 percent of neutrals wanted Cas and it never looked like they could do it hence, Crap final verdict.

Most of our finals have been pretty good games. Close, tense, skillful. 2015 was one of the most intense games I've seen.
The conditions were awful Saturday and Cas were dreadful. Fact is Leeds didn't have to be that good to beat them. If Cas had turned up that would have helped.

it was still 100 times better than the wigan vs hull cup final from a few years back
that was my wifes first rugby game and god knows how i persuaded her to watch another

True, good luck with that one!

Reading some comments from other fans both pre and post match I think they were a few more who wanted Cas to lose than I would've thought several weeks ago. Seemingly centring around cockiness from Cas and their fans some were happy to see them knocked down a peg.

I was actually very confident we'd win from the moment the SF finished even before the Hardaker stuff to the point I just couldn't see us losing and it's not just me blindly backing Leeds as I really was uncertain with the SF who would win. Cas may have won their SF but were out scored, looked nervous and rattled at times and blew a lead in the final 10. Didn't think they had a GF style performance in them and so it showed as they tried playing it like a league match. Wasn't expecting it to be so one sided though, I wonder what you'd have gotten for Leeds to win by 18, I know I put a few quid on us to win by 8 at 22/1.

That's what get me with people's criticisms and slating. I get the criticism of subs and our attack and they're perfectly valid. It's when you get people saying the players don't like him, he doesn't communicate with them, he bullies them, he's lost the dressing room etc. but then you see how he gets them to come together and unite to pull off another GF from an unlikely position and it shows it to be all nonsense.

Re-phrase the question: was the Cas performance the worst you have ever seen in a GF?

I'm struggling to think of a poorer one tbh. But this shouldn't detract from the Leeds showing.

IMO the 2009 final was the most boring that Leeds were involved in, although for purists there were probably fewer errors than 2017.

Maybe it had something to do with the bunch of Cas fans in the beer garden in that boozer opposite Tesco, who persisted on telling anyone who'd listen, that 'Hardaker doesn't matter mate, we'd have to play our 19's for us to be worried about the f***ing Jew boys turning us over'.....we bumped into the same clowns after and pi$$ed ourselves...