As Leeds Rhinos said farewell to Kevin Sinfield, a man affectionately known as ‘Sir Kev’ in these parts after captaining the club to seven Super League titles, Warrington Wolves ushered in a new chapter as George Williams enjoyed a dramatic winning debut.
With the scores tied at 26-26, the England stand-off kicked a last-minute drop-goal which marked a fairytale start to his Wolves career.
Sinfield was a key figure in Leeds’ golden era and has for the past three years served as the club’s director of rugby, but he will now depart Headingley and take up a role as defence coach at Leicester Tigers under Steve Borthwick.
In the end, it was Williams’s night as he kept his composure to deliver the fatal blow to Leeds and maintain his new team’s play-off push.
He recently signed for Warrington after being granted a release from Canberra Raiders in May, less than halfway through his three-year contract in the Australian capital, due to homesickness and a desire to return to England with his pregnant partner.
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Williams, 26, had not played for 10 weeks following his messy departure from Canberra but he showed glimpses of his undoubted class.
But it was Leeds, inspired by a raucous home support who gave Sinfield a thunderous pre-match reception as he was introduced to the crowd, who deservedly led in the eighth minute. A fine passing sequence saw Luke Gale and Richie Myler combined to send Harry Newman, the highly-regarded homegrown centre, over in the left corner.
Yet the visitors, who have not been crowned champions since 1955, steadied themselves and hit back when Mike Cooper, the England prop, barged over from close range.
Leeds scored again in the 17th minute, though, when Poland-born forward Mikolaj Oledzki showed formidable strength to power his way over the line.
Yet Warrington were not fazed and, after Leeds fumbled the kick-off, they were forced to drop out under their own posts and from there Blake Austin scooped up Williams’s pass and scampered over to score.
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Ratchford converted again to level matters at 12-12 but Leeds claimed a third try in the 29th minute through ex-Warrington hooker Brad Dwyer, who took Luke Gale’s pass and dived over to score.
The visitors replied through Josh Charnley’s 50th-minute try in the right corner and Newman’s second appeared to have handed Leeds victory before Warrington levelled again through Danny Walker, the replacement hooker, before Williams had the final say.
