Wakefield Trinity 30 Leeds Rhinos 34: Rhinos recovery picks up pace as late assault denies Wildcats

However, rarely have Leeds quite needed the veteran centre's cutting thrust as they did with the seconds ticking down on Saturday night.

The toiling champions had done the hard work, clawing back from 28-10 down to get tiring Wakefield back in their sights.

But with captain Kevin Sinfield throwing a couple of uncustomary wayward passes, fellow playmaker Rob Burrow long since departed with a leg injury and some team-mates looking suitably flustered, it seemed Leeds might not finish the dramatic comeback they so desperately required.

Wakefield could possibly just hang on, record their first-ever Super League double over their West Yorkshire rivals and no one would begrudge them given the supreme effort they had produced for 77 minutes.

However, from the moment Senior put in the classy footwork which left Sean Gleeson beaten, there was no debate; Leeds had got out of jail.

The ex-Great Britain man found open space, surged into Wakefield territory, Brent Webb appeared as ever on his inside and two passes later Danny Buderus just managed to roll out of Damien Blanch's desperate tackle to touch down.

Senior may now be 34 but he has performed the act too many times to forget his role and it would be no surprise to see him carry on at Headingley for another year.

Broken Wakefield were left stunned at how their opponents had managed to turn it all around.

In the first half, they had brutally dissected Leeds almost at will to establish that 28-10 scoreline, stand-off Ben Jeffries' continuing his love affair with Murrayfield.

The Australian was outstanding during Bradford Bulls's victory in Edinburgh 12 months earlier, ironically against Wakefield, and on Saturday his clever promptings had Leeds pulled all over.

He shimmied his way past a feeble attempted tackle from Ryan Bailey to go in for the game's first try on seven minutes and delivered a measured kick to the corner for Damien Blanch to score six minutes later having earlier put Tevita Leo-Latu searing away with a fine pass.

The 29-year-old laid the foundation for Paul Johnson's first try for the club on 31 minutes, his acceleration again catching Leeds out and leaving them stretched before Johnson twisted out of Danny McGuire's tackle.

With Paul Cooke missing with a hamstring injury, Jeffries also took on goalkicking duties and he was off target just once after Wakefield's five first-half tries.

After McGuire was penalised for dissent – a problem that will not go away for Leeds this season – Blanch added his second, the Ireland international benefiting after a glorious flicked pass from Gleeson. When Sinfield booted the re-start out on the full, Leo-Latu capitalised, zipping through more paper-thin defence leaving five players in his wake as he darted over from dummy half.

But Leeds, who had responded from being 12-0 down to reply with tries of their own through Ryan Hall and Webb, scored a crucial touchdown seconds before the interval after Sinfield had worked a short kick-off.

Hall stretched over for his second and Sinfield converted from the touchline to leave it finely balanced 28-16 at half-time.

Wakefield, who had lost their previous four games and had five regulars sidelined, including Danny Kirmond who suffered a back spasm shortly before kick-off, saw Leeds grow in confidence after the re-start.

Second-rower Chris Clarkson managed to hold off the attentions of four Wakefield defenders to score his first try for the club on 47 minutes with Sinfield again improving but, seemingly predicting the onslaught that would occur, Jeffries sensibly kicked a penalty seven minutes later to give his side an eight-point advantage.

It was on the back of a succession of penalties the other way that Leeds began to dominate possession as Wakefield – who had Paul King outstanding in the front row – saw their discipline questioned.

The increased defensive work was always going to leave them jaded in the final quarter and when Hall scrambled over for his hat-trick – a second treble in three games – following a poor decision by Blanch on 63 minutes, Sinfield's conversion saw their lead narrowed to just two points.

Wakefield full-back Aaron Murphy had a 'try' ruled out by the video official after Luke George for the slightest of touches forward to Jeffries latest kick and that was the closest they came as Leeds pressed on.

Panic began to set in for the exhausted Wildcats, Johnson off-loading straight to Leeds hooker Matt Diskin and Gleeson forcing a pass wide which ended up in touch.

It seemed inevitable their rivals would create one last chance and Senior duly came to the fore to allow Buderus to steal it at the death.

Leeds Rhinos: Webb; Smith, Delaney, Senior, Hall; McGuire, Burrow; Bailey Buderus, Peacock, Jones-Buchanan, Kirke, Sinfield. Substitutes: Diskin, Clarkson, Burgess, Ambler.

Wakefield Trinity: Murphy; Blanch, Gleeson, Demetriou, George; Jeffries, Obst; Korkidas, Leo-Latu, King, Ferguson, Johnson, Henderson. Substitutes: Bibb, Morton, Davey, Moore

Referee: Thierry Alibert (Toulouse).