Leeds Rhinos' Mikolaj Oledzki had to turn off his club’s video nasty as they squeezed into the play-offs.
The England prop was today rewarded for his excellent form by being named in the Betfred Super League Dream Team for the first time. But his error-ridden side rode their luck as they edged through Saturday’s low quality winner-takes-all clash with Castleford Tigers. Both teams were as bad as each other coughing up the ball and Rhinos looked like missing out on the top-six when trailing 8-0 late on.
But Aidan Sezer’s try in the dying seconds rescued their season, delivering a 14-8 success. They head to Catalans on Friday in a sudden-death eliminator but Oledzki revealed: “I went home and saw a few people say it wasn’t the prettiest game. I decided to watch the first 25 minutes anyway - but then I had to turn it off!
“It was scruffy. We couldn’t keep hold of the ball. Cas couldn't keep hold of the ball. We had to say to each other we needed to sort it out as it must have been one of the toughest games of rugby league to watch! But the last few weeks we’ve been the team that can get into the last 20 minutes and thrive.
“There’s a belief there. It was crazy. The last try we scored, I was watching from the back and the full stadium erupted. It’s one of the best sights I've seen in my career. We’re through and now we’ll work towards Catalans. We know it’s always tough over there but we won’t look back and read what people are saying about us. We’ll fix things up and go meet them head on.”
Oledzki, 24, insisted he was “shocked” when told he had made the Dream Team. But in truth he’s been a towering presence for Rhinos this term and looks certain to make Shaun Wane’s World Cup squad. After being unveiled at Salford’s AJ Bell Stadium, he said: “To be here today is a big honour and it is very rewarding. I didn’t expect it at all because there’s so many good forwards playing well at the moment like Jack Ormondroyd, for Salford, and Matty Lees at Saints. I am really, really grateful.”
There were five other Dream Team newcomers - Salford duo Brodie Croft and Tim Lafai as well as Hull KR captain Shaun Kenny-Dowall, Wigan full-back Jai Field and Huddersfield second-row Chris McQueen. Champions St Helens had the most representatives with four: Jack Welsby, Morgan Knowles, James Roby and Alex Walmsley. Salford flier Ken Sio retained his spot as did Wigan’s Liam Farrell while Warriors winger Bevan French - who has scored 31 tries this term - also got a call-up.
Super League Dream Team: J Field; B French (both Wigan), S Kenny-Dowall (Hull KR), T Lafai, K Sio (both Salford); J Welsby (St Helens),B Croft (Salford); A Walmsley, J Roby (both St Helens), M Oledzki (Leeds), C McQueen (Huddersfield), L Farrell (Wigan), M Knowles (St Helens)
