EIGHT grand finals. Wow. It's hard to believe that I've already been to Old Trafford seven times in my career and I'm not yet 27.

You could never grow tired of playing at Old Trafford – these are the games you want to play.

It's a long season – too long, really – we start in February and finish in October and it feels very rewarding to be part of the last match of the season. The game steps up another level when it comes to the grand final – every carry, every kick, every play-the-ball counts. It's awesome.

There are a few nerves in the camp, but I don't let them affect me any more. When I first started playing I felt nervous before games like this, but you learn to deal with them.

The first one is about the occasion. It can get overwhelming because of the atmosphere and the noise. You try and take it all in and don't really concentrate on the game.

You learn to focus on the job you're paid to do and not get caught up in all the palaver.

I felt absolutely gutted after losing with Bradford against Saints in 1999 because we were the better team. I scored a perfectly good 'try' by the posts, but the video referee said Mick Withers had knocked on and it was disallowed. It's still the worst loss of my career.

We were the dominant team all season and the dominant team all night, but we didn't take our chances and it taught me apainful lesson.

I'm a different player to the kid who played in 1999. Having a long run at stand-off has been the making of me. I was always captain when I was a junior: captain of my club team, of Yorkshire, of England Schools. I enjoy the responsibility and want to be the kind of player who my team-mates rely on to come up with the big plays.

I'm capable of doing that and it's one of the reasons I got so frustrated early in my career.

Leeds are a very good team, they're more than capable of beating us. It's a 50-50 game. Because we beat them two weeks ago doesn't mean we are going to beat them this time. There is so much more at stake and both teams will be very different to how they were then.

We've been the best two teams for the last two years, but I don't think it's necessarily healthy.

We need Bradford to get back up there, we need Warrington to challenge for finals. As a Bradford lad I want to see them back up there competing because they haven't competed in big games. Over the years I was there, these were the games they were playing in.

The competition needs them to get there again, and Wigan to become more consistent.

The competition as a whole needs to become stronger so that the difference from first and second doesn't drop down a lot to third. We need it to become a closer competition.