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1 week ago
13
St Helens produced one of the most incredible Super League playoff moments in the competition’s 30-year history to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat and keep their season alive after scoring with the final play of the match to stun Leeds Rhinos and set up a semi-final showdown with Hull KR next weekend.
The Rhinos led for most of the evening in West Yorkshire and looked as though they would cruise thorough to the semi-finals despite being some way from their best. However, the Saints – maestros of the most dramatic finales in Super League history – somehow pulled an unfathomable moment out of the hat after the hooter to progress at the expense of Leeds.
They were eight points behind with six minutes left before Jon Bennison’s try gave them hope before they incredibly kept the ball alive after the full-time hooter had sounded, working the ball wide to allow Shane Wright to touch down and stun Headingley into silence and ensure it would be the Saints, not the Rhinos, who travel to face the league leaders next Saturday.
This had all the hallmarks of another miserable evening for the Saints for most of the contest. They have struggled against Super League’s better sides throughout 2025 and had they lost here, the pressure would have intensified on their head coach, Paul Wellens, about whether he could continue into next season.
But this result not only keeps them in the hunt to reach another grand final, but shows that the Saints can edge do-or-die contests. These two sides have collectively won 17 of the 27 grand finals staged but in the latter part of this year, there has only really looked like one of these two capable of going all the way to Old Trafford: and it was not Wellens’ side.
However, they produced a miraculous finale to keep their hopes alive, and end Leeds’ season in the process. The Rhinos have been rejuvenated under the leadership of Brad Arthur this season but they have undoubtedly wobbled in recent weeks with the playoffs approaching. In the end, they paid the price here for not putting their opponents away.
Leeds dominated large stretches of the contest, and led for almost the whole of the evening. But they could not hang on, leaving their players crestfallen at full time as the St Helens travelling support were sent into delirium when Wright scored the match-winning try after the visitors kept the ball alive for nigh on a minute after the hooter had sounded.
Arthur’s side led by six at the end of an engrossing first half, but one which lacked quality throughout. Leeds took the lead with a well-worked move that led to Chris Hankinson touching down in the corner, before the Saints levelled matters through a scrappy try, eventually finished by Jonny Lomax.
However, the hosts were able to forge a path back ahead shortly before the interval when James McDonnell touched down. There were multiple opportunities for Leeds to potentially put the tie beyond the Saints in the opening stages of the second half, but the Rhinos could not take them and in the end, they would prove significant.
And as the hour mark approached, both sides appeared panicked in possession. The better chances continued to come Leeds’ way. There was precious little from the visitors in terms of clearcut attacking opportunities but yet they remained within one score of the Rhinos, until a crucial moment arrived with 15 minutes remaining.
The Saints’ indiscipline got the better of them as Kallum Watkins was caught high, affording Jake Connor a simple opportunity to add a penalty from in front of the posts and establish an eight-point advantage. Given the profligacy and the lack of potency the Saints had shown, it felt decisive.
However, what came next was staggering. Bennison finished a smart piece of play with five minutes to go to make it 14-12 and just when it looked as though Leeds would survive, the Saints somehow stole victory as the ball passed through almost every pair of hands to allow Wright to exploit a gap and score.
