RYAN Hall and Leeds have been showing a bit of bare-faced cheek ahead of their return to the Grand Final.
But it was not without its issues as they had to check one player was old enough to do it!
The Rhinos’ stars have all stripped off for a raunchy calendar, the proceeds of which are split between winger Hall’s testimonial and team-mate Stevie Ward’s Mantality group.
Several locations around their Headingley ground are captured on film, each with a nude star from Brian McDermott’s squad in the middle.
However, Hall has revealed young starlet Jack Walker provided a unique question as they had to check he could legally get his kit off.
“We had to check on Jack,” revealed Hall. “Fortunately, he’d just had his 18th birthday when we shot the pictures, so he was OK.
“And he didn’t have a problem in doing it either, which he may have done being so young.
“Ever since we did one for Rob Burrow’s testimonial we’ve done a naked calendar, including one for mine.
“But as there’s not a testimonial next year, I thought it would be good to do one and split it between myself and Stevie’s group
“And no-one was too modest to not do it, although a couple of the shots did need redoing as we needed repositioning!
“We tried to get a couple of shots done involving the South stand before it was knocked down but every player gave up their own time to do the shots, so I can’t thank them enough for their support.
“We’ve had 1,500 copies done as a first run, as in previous years, but we’ll see how it goes.”
Peeling his clothes off aside, Hall has the small matter of his sixth Grand Final to think about and he revealed how a word from a former coach has driven him on this year.
In 2016, Leeds found themselves fighting relegation after an awful year that saw their training ground flooded, followed by a raft of injuries and poor form.
However, it was not current boss Brian McDermott that came up with the key phrase but ex-Rhinos chief Brian ‘Bluey’ McClennan.
“It’s Bluey’s philosophy that you’ve got love winning,” Hall added. “A lot of people in successful sides will go with not wanting to lose but Bluey said, ‘Get your strength from winning.’
“There’s not many of us left from that group but I like looking at things with that approach.”
Hall may be an old hand at Grand Finals while Castleford, who are still reeling from the shock omission of Zak Hardaker, are heading for their first ever.
And memories of his own first experience of Super League’s big day are fresh in his mind, even though he was 18th man back in 2007, even influencing the way he approaches games today.
But a Leeds win would be extra sweet as Castleford have beaten them four times already this season, including a hat-trick for Greg Minikin, the man he will be up against, as the Tigers thrashed them 66-10 in March.
“If you watch any of his tries, I was nowhere near him,” conceded England man Hall. “I had to go in the middle of the field, so it’s not that bad if you look at it that way!
“Those defeats were quite hard to take. However, if you start getting fed up with it, you can start on a downward spiral.
“We needed to get over the losses, particularly the 66-10 one, very quickly which we managed to do.
“But at Magic Weekend, we missed an opportunity as we played well in the first half but in the second, we kind of gave in. That loss hurt more than the 66-10 one!”
One thing Hall has also been doing is keeping his head down as much as he can. He lives between Leeds and Castleford, meaning he could bump into a fan who hopes he loses today.
“Everything is taken in good spirits,” he said about anyone saying they hope Cas win. “But it would be good to not hear any reminders!”
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