And it was a superb achievement; the squad Tony Smith essentially created and Brian McClellan continued to develop is thoroughly entitled to claim the mantle as the best in the club's long history since the formation of the Northern Union in 1895.
That is some claim to make and while I am only qualified to give eye witness evidence from 1966, no Leeds side has won the championship – in all the many guises it has had – for three years on the trot.

The success has also been achieved with effectively the same side and the great strength has been that the squad has largely been home-grown, coming through the academy system. Kevin Sinfield, Danny McGuire, Rob Burrow, Matt Diskin, Lee Smith, Jamie Jones-Buchanan, Ryan Bailey, Ian Kirke, Carl Ablett, Ryan Hall and others may not all be Leeds born and bred, but all their rugby from their mid-teens has been played with the Rhinos.

That is a tribute to the scouting system that is in place and the quality of coaching given to these young players.

Of course, turning youthful potential into top-class Super League players does not come automatically and that is where Smith and McClellan have played their parts and – of course – the dedication, ambition and ability of the players themselves.

Signings from other English clubs have been relatively few, but Keith Senior and Gareth Ellis more than proved their worth. The overseas players – Ali Lauitiiti, Scott Donald, Kyle Leuluai and Brent Webb – have come on relatively long-term contracts and become adopted citizens.

This is in direct contrast to the not-too distant past. In the early 1990s, Leeds signed Wigan and Widnes veterans en masse and from the mid-1980s brought in big-name Australians on very short contracts. While this upped the profile of the club and created spectator interest, the resulting silverware was zilch and caused later financial problems before the present regime got them back on track.

There was a degree of inconsistency in performance in 2009, but that was a feature throughout Super League, and some slightly worrying lapses in discipline, particularly with regard to disputing referees' decisions.

Danny Buderus failed to make an impact due to injury and the visa problems that prevented the arrival of Greg Eastwood meant that Gareth Ellis was not really replaced. For 2010, the departure of Lee Smith is a blow but the anticipated strengthening in the centre is much needed. Smith is an outstanding winger and full-back but not quite the finished article at centre, as demonstrated in the Four Nations.

Otherwise, the side is pretty much unchanged. The missing medal from all the squad's CVs (with the exception of Keith Senior, but his was with Sheffield Eagles) is, of course, the Challenge Cup. That is something there will be a real determination to amend.