The England second row collected his second grand final winners' ring as the Rhinos beat St Helens 24-16 in his last match in an amber and blue jersey before he takes up a three-year contract with Sydney-based Wests Tigers.

Having helped Leeds to a 39-32 World Club Challenge win against Canterbury Bulldogs on his Rhinos debut in 2005, Ellis's farewell could not have worked out better.

While it was not his most influential performance for Leeds, the 27-year-old former Wakefield forward did all that was expected of him during a final which saw him switch between second row and centre.

"It was the perfect way to go out and would have been regardless of what happened on the night," said Ellis. "I'll leave Leeds with a lot of fond memories. I have made friends for life but this is the icing on the cake that brings us that little bit closer."

Just as they had done 12 months before, Leeds reached Old Trafford the hard way but bounced back from a 38-10 hiding at St Helens two weeks earlier to exact revenge in the best possible way.

An 18-14 victory over Wigan in a tough, uncompromising final eliminator proved to be just what Leeds needed but the defending champions still went into the 2007 grand final re-match as underdogs.

"We always knew we had it in us, even after we lost at St Helens," he said. "In a lot of ways that was just what we needed because we lifted our game and got back to where we needed to be against Wigan.

"No-one gave us a chance at Old Trafford and that made it a little bit more special. The atmosphere surrounding the game made us underdogs and I think that took a bit of pressure off us but we knew on the inside what we were capable of.

"It was the perfect way to do it the last time when we lost to St Helens in the first game and then beat Wigan in the semi-final and it turns out that it was the perfect way to do it this time round.

"It's been great because we were doubted by some people – there were a lot of hopeful people but in the back of their minds they perhaps thought we weren't going to do it so we have gone out and done it for them."

Ellis revealed that his move from second row to centre midway through the first half had been planned and though he was substituted after the break, there was never any prospect of him ending the match on the bench.

"It was a tactic I knew about. Bluey (Leeds coach Brian McClennan) put it to me in the week and it was a way of keeping me on the field. It gave me a chance to get a little bit of a breather and it really worked well for us.

"Even so I was blowing a bit late in the second half but as soon as I came off I let them know that I wanted to get back on and finish the game.

"When I made the decision to move on, finishing in style with a grand final appearance was high on my agenda. I was just thankful that I got the opportunity to do it.

"As a team we have gone through a lot together and winning two grand finals is unbelievable and something I will never forget."

The grand final also represented a swansong appearance for Leeds prop Nick Scruton, whose winning performance was made all the more memorable by the fact he had to play through the pain of a fractured wrist.

Scruton, 23, who is joining Bradford next season, cracked a scaphoid in Leeds's defeat of Wigan but was determined not to miss out on the first major final of his career.

"It was Nick's decision in the end to play," said Leeds spokesman Phil Daly. "He decided to have a pain-killing injection in his wrist.

"He couldn't grip the trophy after the match.

"If it had happened in the season, he wouldn't have played but it was a grand final. It will need pinning eventually."

Two-try hero Danny McGuire hailed Leeds' 24-16 win and admitted: "It just gets better every year.

"We had to graft hard, it was one of the toughest games I've ever played in, we dug in deep and the character we showed was unreal.

"We all believed we could do it and we're very proud of ourselves. It just gets better every year, I'm lucky I've been able to play in four of these now."

Harry Sunderland Trophy winner Lee Smith added: "It's brilliant, I'm lost for words.

"The boys were brilliant, we were outstanding. We were underdogs but on these big games it's all about having a high tempo. We deserved it."