We have history with Wolves, says Ablett, after Wembley loss

LEEDS RHINOS centre Carl Ablett happily sat back and watched as Warrington Wolves and St Helens bashed each other up on Saturday evening, freely admitting he didn’t care one jot which side went on to meet them at Old Trafford.

It is possibly a sign of the Leeds psyche at this time of year – whoever comes before them, they will duly meet and endeavour to overcome with the minimum of fuss.

Ordinarily, they achieve that aim and it seems innate to them that they find their way to the Grand Final and, usually, win.

As it turned out, Warrington emerged victorious and so Leeds have new opponents in Manchester this weekend.

They have beaten Saints in four of the last five finals but Warrington – who have beaten the West Yorkshire club twice in recent Challenge Cup finals – have never yet featured there.

Ablett, who gave his usual under-stated performance in Friday’s epic 13-12 semi-final win at Wigan, said: “I wasn’t fussed who we got.

“I’d seen a bit of publicity about everyone wanting a Wigan v Warrington final and no one wanted Leeds v Saints again.

“That’s not going to happen now but I’m sure it’s going to be interesting.

“We’ve got our own history with Warrington and the Challenge Cup and now we’ll be focusing on them.

“Come Monday morning on Grand Final week you get that sense of a big game looming and a packed-out Old Trafford. The whole experience is great and we’ll be back in Monday looking for a big week ahead and one more massive display.

“On the back of a performance like that (Wigan) it can’t come quick enough really,” added Ablett.

For a second year running, Leeds have reached the Grand Final from fifth place.

Both times they have gone on the road to knock out the League Leaders’ Shield winners – Warrington 12 months ago and now Wigan with a remarkable defensive performance.

Leeds, who will welcome Danny McGuire back from suspension for Saturday night’s finale, were almost impregnable while Kevin Sinfield’s kicking game was peerless as he forged an 11-0 interval lead at a stunned DW Stadium.

Ablett admitted: “You have to do that in big games – it’s all about field position, kicking well, chasing well and putting them under pressure.

“Wigan are a big team with some great set-plays. They’re difficult to defend at times but that was probably as good as we’ve defended for as far back as I can remember.

“There was some real ferocity in there and line speed too to put them under pressure. To nil a team like Wigan in the first half was a massive effort.

“Kev’s a great leader and has a good understanding of where the game’s going and what we need to progress.

“He just kept ticking it over with penalties and a drop goal and we’ll need all the same sort of strengths against Warrington.”

Although Ablett praised his captain for that telling influence, Sinfield himself paid coach Brian McDermott a glowing tribute.

The England star rated him “certainly the best coach” he’s ever had, which is some accolade given he has won two titles with Leeds under ex-England chief Tony Smith, the current Warrington boss, and another couple with Kiwi Brian McClennan.

In his first two seasons in charge, McDermott has guided Leeds to both Grand Finals and Challenge Cup finals while he also masterminded February’s World Club Challenge success over Australian premiers Manly.

“His mix of man-management and his game plan is second to none,” said Sinfield.

“Since Brian Mac has been in charge, we’ve been in every single final so far.

“I love playing for him. I can’t praise him enough, I’ve so much respect for him and I hope he’s here for a very long time.

“He needs to take some credit for what he’s done again, especially if you look at how many bodies we’ve got available.

“We’ve probably got one of the smallest squads running and add to that the amount of games we’ve had to play.

“It’s just been relentless for the group.

“We’ve been on our feet and playing every weekend now since the end of January and hopefully we’ve got one more big effort in us.”