......And to think, all the kicking and screaming on here at the start of a year when GH delivers his usual "This is the best Leeds team ever" announcement.

And it is quite possible this side will end up with the same troops haul as last season!! A season most on here were underwhelmed with to say the least!!

Yes they might end up with the same trophy haul.......what's that got to do with what I posted though?

Of course this is possible and it is what makes sport interesting.

Most on here predicted we would finish outside the top four and most on here would have sacked McDermott every year since he came so I am not sure that anyone else will lose much sleep if they are underwhelmed again.

However it would be a rather odd for a rugby fan to be underwhelmed with the excellent rugby entertainment we have enjoyed this year.

To be fair that's sort of the point. We've already lost a key player in Aiton so the quality of the team and what you win aren't necessarily the same (sport always requires an element of luck)... Hence plenty on here have suggested 2005 was our best side even though it ended up empty handed.

As they say you can't please all of the people all of the time...

Amazing innit really. The greater the success the greater the demands. I wonder if HKR supporters would have been underwhelmed in "just winning the CC" ?
I have been one of McDermott's greatest critics: not any more. I can honestly say that if Leeds "just win the CC" again I would be extremely happy ..the recruitment, style of play and overall quality of performances this season IMO is to be applauded.

IF Leeds do not win another trophy it will be because of further bad luck on the injury front to key individuals. For that reason I would still class the team this year as the best team I have ever seen in my 37 years of watching Leeds regardless of trophies in the cabinet.

Arguably maybe not every position presently has the best individual in it ever; but that is not the question .... "Team" is the operative word here...and I think the team that has coalesced this season has reached a pinnacle that might never be matched again in my lifetime.
The old hands playing as well as they ever had combined with the younger element playing with ever increasing understanding of each others' abilities and styles is a real joy to watch. Everyone knows their role and everyone plays it with real commitment to one other.

It seems some people are just never satisfied.

Of course if we see a lack of effort in the forthcoming matches it might have an impact on my opinion, but somehow I don't see that as a possibility. This 'team' plays with real pride ...the way it has demonstrably wanted to nil the opposition with commited defence after building a healthy lead is particularly admirable.

Whilst you can arguing the "best team" till the cows come home, as we say in the dales, I would be happy to stick to the statement that this is the most exciting team we have seen, mixing in style of play, potential of success this year and stand out players. To add in I have always seen the CC as the more exciting final game...... the old cup romance maybe

By the measure of being able to Nil an opposition as opposed to wanting to this year's Leeds team have a modest record so far - not even the best season yet under the present coach - 2011.

Tony Smith's Leeds nilled their opposition three times in each of his three seasons in charge and you have to go back to 1972/73 to find a season where Leeds nilled their opponents four times - Derek Turner.

Could this be the best Leeds side ever? Well ever is a long time and Leeds have produced three or perhaps four teams worthy of a shout but for me still the team assembled under Roy Francis in the late sixties defined (and redefined)the sport I fell in love with. Sheer poetry in motion from Risman at the back to Batten at the base of the scrum. (Five of the backs from that golden era - Atkinson, Hynes, Seabourne, Shoebottom and Smith - went down under with GB in 1970 and brought back the Ashes and we haven't held them since.)

Surprising how rare nillings actually are (I assumed they may have been more common before the summer era). Have Leeds ever nilled the opposition in a major final before last week?

Its hard to look at individual years, particularly from different periods. even from the same era, people talk about Sts 2006 but its hard to say it was a "great" side as it didn't win in the two years before or many afterwards. I'd say the Leeds 2005 team at its best would have given Sts 2006 a real game.

The club has had maybe four or five great "eras" - with Eric Harris pre-war, the Lewis Jones era, the late 60s, the mid-late 70s and then 2004+. What's different this time is just how long its lasted, and the team's win rate of the major trophies is much higher than ever before. John Atkinson won shedloads of winners medals, but in terms of the major competitions he "only" won 2 championships and 3 challenge cups. That's simply dwarfed by Sinfield, Burrow and McGuire with 6 championships and 2 challenge cups.

Based on what measurement?
I firmly believe that you are Kelvin Skerrett's barsteward son.