England captain Jamie Peacock basked in the glory of Leeds Rhinos' historic Grand Final triumph - and predicted more success for the champions in 2010.

The Rhinos inflicted a third defeat in a row on St Helens in the climax to the engage Super League season with a rousing 18-10 win in front of a 63,219 crowd at Old Trafford on Saturday night.

Up to 12 months ago, no club had ever won more than two Super League titles in a row. But Peacock sees no reason why Leeds should not extend their record sequence to at least four.

"We'll enjoy this one first and look forward to playing Melbourne in the World Club Challenge.
But we've got a couple of new lads coming in so I think we'll have an even stronger squad next year," he said.

The Rhinos will be boosted next season by the arrival of New Zealand forward Greg Eastwood, a belated replacement for Gareth Ellis, while Australian centre Brett Delaney will take the place of the departing Lee Smith.

Smith, who is switching codes with Wasps, bowed out in fairytale fashion with two of his side's tries - the second a controversial effort that clinched a hard-earned victory seven minutes from the end of a pulsating clash.

Smith has played and scored in each of the Rhinos' three consecutive Old Trafford victories. But his record pales into insignificance compared to that of Peacock, who has a record six Grand Final wins to his credit.

The former Bradford captain, who has played in all but one of the last nine Old Trafford showpieces, rated his latest victory as his greatest.

"This is the best," he said.

"It was the toughest Grand Final I reckon there's ever been, certainly that I've played in.

"It was really intense. Just about all the tries came from kicks, which shows how tough a game it was.

"It was uncompromising, end to end, and a force of will at the end. Saints had a real go at us, but we just pipped them."

Kevin Sinfield became the first man to lead a team to four Grand Final victories - and he did it in style with a man-of-the-match performance to lift the Harry Sunderland Trophy.

The outcome was tough on St Helens' 20-year-old Kyle Eastwood, who scored all his side's points with a try and three goals and was crucially denied a second try by a wonderful last-ditch tackle by Sinfield.

It was also a sad way for Sean Long to end his 12-year career with the club as Saints finished as runners-up for the third year in a row and ended the season trophy-less for the first time since 2003.

However, coach Mick Potter insists there are 'positives' to draw from his first season in charge.

"I've enjoyed working with a special bunch of guys that are very driven to do well," he said.
"They are used to a degree of success and are very disappointed, like they were after the Challenge Cup semi.

"The people that work for the organisation are great people to work for; the people around the town are passionate about their 'footy'.

"There is nothing negative about the place - they are so driven.

"There is potentially a new stadium coming. There are a lot of things to look forward to.

"There are some good young players coming through, and it is a pleasure to see those guys that will be Super League players in years to come."