Leeds Rhinos are the Super League champions for an eighth time after beating Castleford 24-6in Saturday night's Grand Final at Old Trafford.
Castleford 6-24 Leeds, Old Trafford
Castleford try: Foster (79)
Goal: Gale (80)
Leeds tries: Briscoe (11, 60), McGuire (52, 70)
Goals: Watkins (12, 60, 71)
Drop goals: McGuire (40, 77)
Match report
Danny McGuire produced the perfect swansong in the Betfred Super League Grand Final, leading Leeds to victory on his final appearance for his home-town club.
The Rhinos skipper scored two tries, helped to create others for from winger Tom Briscoe and landed two drop goals in a man-of-the-match performance as Leeds beat favourites Castleford 24-6 in front of a sell-out crowd of 72,827 at Old Trafford to secure a record-extending eighth win from 10 Grand Finals.
Castleford dominated the regular season, finishing 10 points clear of the Rhinos, but produced arguably their worst performance in the absence of the suspended Zak Hardaker and finished their best ever season with only the League Leaders' Shield to show for their efforts.
It was Leeds' first Grand Final triumph without former captain Kevin Sinfield, who along with Jamie Peacock and Kylie Leuluai, bowed out on a high two years ago - and Saturday's stunning triumph also enabled McGuire and his long-time half-back Rob Burrow to end their Rhinos careers in fitting fashion.
Burrow hung up his boots after the game but McGuire will carry on with promoted Hull KR in 2018 and his stellar performance at Old Trafford demonstrated that, even at 34, he still has much to offer.
Super League 2018: Sky Bet odds
Leeds, with 42 Super League rings between them and their big guns firing, were also indebted to a superb effort by 18-year-old full-back Jack Walker, who became the youngest player to win a Grand Final - taking the record from Stevie Ward on only his 12th senior appearance.
In difficult conditions, Castleford's decision not to take early points from penalties within easy kicking range was a surprise and began to look bewildering as Adam Milner, Paul McShane and Eden coughed up the ball in prime attacking positions.
Leeds' handling was far superior and Briscoe, who looked bereft of confidence two months ago, illustrated their Joie de vivre when he leapt above Michael Shenton and Jy Hitchcox to touch down McGuire's lofted kick and open the scoring in the 11th minute.
Kallum Watkins added the goal and the Rhinos centre thought he had added another try six minutes later when he won the race to McGuire's stabbed kick only for video referee Phil Bentham to rule a knock-on.
As the Tigers gradually began to put their game together, full-back Greg Eden looked all on a certain tryscorer until McGuire managed to force a handling error as he raced for the line and substitute prop Grant Millington went close before being brought back for a forward pass.
Hitchcox was then denied a try for obstruction before the same ruling robbed Briscoe of a second touchdown and the only other score before half-time was a drop goal from McGuire right on the hooter.
Castleford would have settled for a 7-0 deficit but the game quickly went away from them after another error-riddled period early in the second half gave Leeds the impetus to seize total control.
When Eden failed to deal with Joel Moon's high kick, McGuire swooped to grab an opportunist try and soon afterwards Moon carved out an opening for Briscoe to score his second.
Watkins' second conversion made it 17-0 and McGuire added a touch of gloss to the victory when he swooped on a handling error by Mike McMeeken to score his second try.
Watkins kicked his third goal and McGuire slotted a second drop goal before former Leeds forward Alex Foster grabbed a consolation try for the Tigers two minutes from the end.
Reaction
Danny McGuire on his decision to leave Leeds: "I made the decision and I've got to stick by it. The new challenge is going to be good for me. I was really determined to make sure my Leeds career finished on a really positive note and we've won a Grand Final so you can't get any better. It'll be sad to leave because I've been at Leeds since I was a kid but I think it's the right thing for the club and myself to move on."
"It's a fairytale ending. I thought the boys from one to 17 were unbelievable. We spoke all week about leaving everything out there and the lads did that. The commitment to the cause and work ethic was unbelievable.
"My job is to steer the team round and it's easy when you've got players willing to run through brick walls for you. I'm going to enjoy the next few days."
Leeds head coach Brian McDermott on coping without McGuire and Rob Burrow: "I'll just use the same line I used when Kev and JP retired, you don't replace them. It's deja vu. There's going to be a time next year when people will be saying we should never have got rid of Danny McGuire. But they said that about Kev when Kev retired.
"You don't go try finding another Danny McGuire because there isn't one. It's the same with Rob Burrow. You just adapt and evolve."
Castleford head coach Daryl Powell: "I'm disappointed we didn't do ourselves justice. If we'd done that and got beat then you can hold your hands up and say 'fair enough'. Leeds didn't see the best of us tonight and massively deserved the win. But they didn't have much to beat."
Super League post-season results
Thursday September 28 - Semi-Final 1
Castleford Tigers 23-22 St Helens, Mend-A-Hose Jungle
Friday September 29 - Semi-Final 2
Leeds Rhinos 18-16 Hull FC, Headingley
Saturday October 7 - Grand Final
Castleford 6-24 Leeds, Old Trafford
Super League: Final standings
Super 8 Standings
Updated 1800 BST on September 23
- Castleford P 30 W 25 D 0 L 5 SD +429 Pts 50
- Leeds P 30 W 20 D 0 L 10 SD +126 Pts 40
- Hull FC P 30 W 17 D 1 L 12 SD +59 Pts 35
- St Helens P 30 W 16 D 1 L 13 SD +145 Pts 33
- Wakefield P 30 W 16 D 0 L 14 SD +97 Pts 32
- Wigan P 30 W 14 D 3 L 13 SD +23 Pts 31
- Salford P 30 W 14 D 0 L 16 SD -48 Pts 28
- Huddersfield P 30 W 11 D 3 L 16 SD -17 Pts 25
The Super League's top eight after 23 games carried their points into the Super 8s stage of the regular season. They each played seven more games and the top four contest the play-offs, which culminate in the Grand Final on Saturday October 7 at Old Trafford
Qualifiers 8 Standings
Updated 2000 BST on September 23
- Warrington P 7 W 7 D 0 L 0 SD +150 Pts 14
- Hull KR P 7 W 5 D 0 L 2 SD +8 Pts 10
- Widnes P 7 W 5 D 0 L 2 SD +92 Pts 10
- Leigh P 7 W 4 D 0 L 3 SD +99 Pts 8
- Catalans P 7 W 4 D 0 L 3 SD -13 Pts 8
- London Broncos P 7 W 1 D 1 L 5 SD -46 Pts 3
- Featherstone P 6 W 0 D 1 L 5 SD -168 Pts 1
- Halifax P 6 W 0 D 0 L 6 SD -122 Pts 0
The Qualifiers Super 8 group consisted of the bottom four Super League sides and the top four sides from the Championship. All teams restarted on zero points. They played another seven games with the objective of earning their Super League places for next season. The top three achieved this, while fourth and fifth face off in the 'Million Pound Match' on Saturday September 30, to see who joins them.
Super League Regular Season before cut off
- Castleford P 23 W 20 D 0 L 3 SD +391 Pts 40
- Leeds P 23 W 15 D 0 L 8 SD +76 Pts 30
- Hull FC P 23 W 13 D 1 L 9 SD +56 Pts 27
- Salford P 23 W 13 D 0 L 10 SD +76 Pts 26
- Wakefield P 23 W 13 D 0 L 10 SD +63 Pts 26
- St Helens P 23 W 12 D 1 L 10 SD +96 Pts 25
- Wigan P 23 W 10 D 3 L 10 SD +21 Pts 23
- Huddersfield P 23 W 9 D 3 L 11 SD +35 Pts 21
- Warrington P 23 W 9 D 2 L 12 SD -145 Pts 20
- Catalans P 23 W 7 D 1 L 15 SD -220 Pts 15
- Leigh P 23 W 6 D 0 L 17 SD -190 Pts 12
- Widnes P 23 W 5 D 1 L 17 SD -269 Pts 11