So, about last night. Wigan Warriors lifted the the League Leaders Shield after brushing past a depleted Salford side 64-0, and well done to them, they deserve it.

Of course, many will say that the shield was actually won two weeks ago, in their narrow 24-20 win against my team, Hull KR. I was at that game, incidentally, and I don’t mind telling you that game really deflated my mood. I thought once we were 8-20 to the good that we were on our way to a famous win, and being so close made the despair of coming short all the worse.

I want to point out at this juncture that I believe the blame for that loss lies squarely with the team. It’s a cheap and easy cop-out to blame the referee like I’ve seen many of my fellow fans do about this game, when in actually fact, any side who allows their opponent back into a game when they had a 20-8 lead only has themselves to blame. Yes, the sin-binnings were pivotal moments, I can’t deny that, but I also can’t deny that they are consistent with other offences that have been given a card this season. The (alleged) play-acting from Tyler Dupree doesn’t help matters, no, but he did still clock a shot to the head regardless, and we’ve seen cards given for less this season.

It was a big disappointment for me as I view the League Leaders Shield as the bigger achievement out of that and the Grand Final. To win the Shield, you need to consistently be the best team in the league for 27 games, whereas to win the Grand Final, you only need to win a maximum of three games, you can be declared Super League ‘Champions’ by finishing sixth and getting lucky in three games. It is also the fact that we always seem to come so close but can’t get over the line, it feels like I’m destined to never see us win anything.

My biggest gripe coming out of the experience was in conversations with my fellow fans on the wait for the coach and the way back. Several of them were saying that they would be happy even if we finished third and didn’t win anything, and I’m sorry, but this is a small club mentality, we need to raise our expectations. These fans are seriously telling me that they’d be happy with being pipped by Warrington to second tonight? I wouldn’t, and I’m sure Willie Peters wouldn’t either. We need to have the mindset of we need to be winning things now, not just being in contention.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m thrilled at the progress we’ve made, and if you’d have offered me second place at any point in the last few years, I’d have bitten your hand off, but now, after seeing what we’re capable of, I’m not happy to settle for being also-rans, there are no prizes for second place, nobody remembers a loser. You simply cannot tell me that not winning a trophy in the next few years is anything short of failure.

Does anybody remember Castleford’s run at the top? At least they had the League Leader’s Shield to show for it, but they lost in the Grand Final and look at them now, just making up the numbers. Now we know we’re capable of competing with the big boys, the target has to be trophies and sustained success, anything less would be a disappointing waste of potential. We don’t want to be another Castleford, we need to build a legacy of success and a reputation as winners to wash away those years of disappointment and near-misses.

I’m not expecting an easy game tonight, but I do think the game is ours for the taking, Leeds are a team that are a shadow of their former selves lately, and their inconsistent form attests to that. I would hate to make predictions when it comes to knockout rugby, but a home semi-final would make the atmosphere a cauldron, and we’ve proven to be very difficult to beat on home soil, so I wouldn’t be surprised if we met the Warriors again this season, this time in Manchester, and maybe with the wind in our sails, and more to the point, an inevitably sizable following, the result will be different. Just maybe.

Written by Nathan Major-Kershaw (Site editor & Hull KR fan)