Much was made of Kevin Sinfield and Jamie Peacock’s contribution to the Leeds Rhinos success story, and rightly so, but nobody has embodied the club’s homegrown heart more than Danny McGuire.
A born and bred Loiner, the Rhinos skipper McGuire joined the club he grew up supporting as a 12-year-old from his local amateur side East Leeds.
It began an association which has lasted over two decades but will end at the end of the season when the master craftsman departs Headingley.
It promises to be an emotional send-off for a player who has done so much to make Leeds the dominant force of the Super League era.
McGuire has made over 400 appearances for Leeds since his debut in 2002 and has won seven Super League Grand Finals, two Challenge Cups and three World Club Challenge titles.
The 34-year-old playmaker is also the highest try-scorer in Super League history with 233 touchdowns and 262 overall for his hometown club.
The Leeds dynasty began in 2004 when Tony Smith guided the aristocrats from Headingley to their first championship in 32 years.
That Grand Final win over Bradford Bulls at Old Trafford laid the platform for a genuine renaissance and the club have never really looked back.
McGuire scored Leeds’ decisive second try on an emotionally fraught evening which featured a whole raft of other homegrown stars, including Sinfield, Matt Diskin, Richie Mathers, Chev Walker, Jamie Jones-Buchanan, Mark Calderwood, Rob Burrow and Danny Ward.
Of that group, only Burrow, Jones-Buchanan and McGuire remain at the club and it would be no surprise to see them help Brian McDermott’s men to further glory this season.
At the end of 2015, Sinfield, Peacock and Kylie Leuluai left as treble winners and McGuire is similarly determined to end his long association at the club with silverware.
What do you make of the news rhinos fans?
Leeds are currently second in the Super League table and in the Challenge Cup semi-finals.
McGuire, who is being linked with a move to promotion-chasing Hull KR, said: “I’m pleased to have made the decision now so I can focus on the remainder of this season and finishing my time at the Rhinos in the best possible way.
“I have been honoured to play alongside some of the greatest players in our game's history and I remember seeing how special it was for Danny Buderus, Kevin Sinfield, Jamie Peacock and Kylie Leuluai to finish their time here at the very top and that’s my aim now.
“I’ve been at my club since I was 12 and spent my entire adult life so far here; it’s all I have ever known.
“But there are exciting challenges ahead and I’m still weighing up options and working out the best one for me at the moment. I’m pretty close to knowing what I’m going to do.”
Leeds boss McDermott said: “In the decades to come, Danny McGuire's achievements will only become more impressive and I know he will be giving his absolute all in the remaining months of this season to finish on the highest possible note.”
McGuire, an ambassador of Leeds charity Mencap for over 10 years and a passionate Leeds United and Yorkshire County Cricket Club fan, is a huge supporter of his home city.
On the field, he has cleverly adapted his game in recent years.
For so long noted as a speedy, try-scoring support player, McGuire’s game is now characterised by his organisational skills and ability to manage games.
McGuire will say farewell to the Rhinos in three months’ time and will hope his final appearance will be a Grand Final victory on Saturday, October 7.
With the way his career has panned out so far, you wouldn’t bet against it would you?
