Yorkshire duo look to produce exclusive final say

THE dismantling of Bradford Bulls' great team of 2005 meant is was inevitable there would be no third successive Grand Final with Leeds Rhinos.

When Jamie Peacock, Leon Pryce, Robbie Paul and Lee Radford departed en masse following Bradford's 15-6 triumph, avenging the loss to their arch-rivals of 12 months earlier, a worrying decline began which hopefully hit its nadir this season.

However, few back then could have envisaged that five years would pass without two Yorkshire sides coming together once more in Super League's endgame.

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Current champions Leeds, of course, have reached the last three finals but defeated St Helens each time while Hull FC ventured as far as Old Trafford in 2006 before falling at the hands of the Merseysiders following a vintage performance from Paul Wellens and Sean Long.

The Airlie Birds, who had won the Challenge Cup a year earlier, never kicked on to fill the void left by ailing Bradford and there was little sign of anyone else stepping up.

A subsequent all-White Rose affair has failed to materialise and the drought seemed unlikely to end in 2010.

Given the re-emergence of Wigan, St Helens' consistency and the arrival of Warrington Wolves as genuine contenders, it seemed this campaign could, conversely, result in the first battle since 2002 with no Yorkshire representation at all.

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The magic of the play-offs though has seen those from the Broad Acres suddenly emerge with a decent chance of upsetting the status quo.

Despite finishing fifth, Huddersfield Giants find themselves in a semi-final at Saints on Friday night while Leeds, overcoming their lowest placing in eight years of fourth, crucially have home advantage against Wigan the following evening.

At 5-1, a Huddersfield v Leeds final is the most unlikely outcome according to William Hills who remain steadfast to the final league table in making St Helens v Wigan – at 5-4 – their favourite.

But Bradford's Jamie Langley, the sole survivor of that Bulls side which peaked in 2005, is one who feels it is not beyond the realms of possibility.

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"It could happen and I can't see why not," said the Wakefield-born forward, currently training with the England national side while the remaining four clubs push towards the ultimate goal.

"Huddersfield are the form side in Super League and have won a lot of games on the bounce. That is key when you're in the play-offs; winning back-to-back is great for confidence.

"It will be an emotional night at Knowsley Road with it being the last-ever game there and everything that comes with it but if the Giants can get over that they can reach Old Trafford.

"Leeds always seem to peak at the right time although personally I had written them off a while back.

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"With results going against them and without a full quota of front-rows I thought they would struggle even to get to this point.

"But they produced an outstanding performance in their last game at Wigan and now they're at Headingley for a place in the final.

"Wigan will be sweating slightly on that one."

Given the momentum Huddersfield have garnered on a seven-match winning run, it would be difficult to argue against them ruining St Helens' final night at their crumbling Knowsley Road home.

Whether they can repeat the intensity showed in that formidable first-half performance which proved the bedrock of Saturday's fascinating victory at Warrington will be key as will controlling Keiron Cunningham, the legendary hooker who everyone is predicting will ride Saints to a Grand Final victory on a tidal wave of emotion as a fitting finale to his exemplary career.

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Wigan, of course, finished top of the pile but Langley contended: "For much of the season it did always look like Wigan, Saints and Warrington could provide the Grand Finalists especially as they finished as the top three.

"They still could but it's the sides who are in form now that matter and it always comes down to those performances on the day.

"Huddersfied have shown they can beat anyone while Leeds have so many big-name players even without Jamie Peacock and Danny McGuire.

"I'd love to have been there with Bradford again but that's not to be.

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"The next best thing for me would be to see two Yorkshire sides going at it and there's a real chance that might occur.

"It'd be a great boost for the game over here if it did."

THE BULLS LET LOOSE FROM 2005 TEAM

WHILE seven of the Leeds Rhinos squad defeated in the 2005 Grand Final remain at Headingley, the victorious Bradford Bulls side splintered rapidly.

After Jamie Peacock, Robbie Paul, Leon Pryce and Lee Radford's exit that winter, the rest have all moved on bar Jamie Langley.

Stuart Fielden joined Wigan Warriors in a world-record 440,000 transfer while Shontaye Hape (Bath) and Lesley Vainikolo (Gloucester) are both now playing rugby union.

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Full-back Mick Withers and prop Joe Vagana have retired and returned home to Australia and New Zealand respectively while centre Ben Harris (North Queensland) and second-row Brad Myers (Gold Coast) are back featuring in the NRL.

Stand-off Iestyn Harris has hung up his boots and is now in charge of Wales while back-row Paul Johnson has recently been released by Wakefield.

Prop Adrian Morley led Warrington Wolves to a second Challenge Cup final success last month and New Zealand Warriors hooker Ian Henderson is set for a return to Super League with Catalans next season.

Scrum-half Paul Deacon joined Fielden at Wigan this year and was unfortunately injured against Leeds 10 days ago.