Had there been a teapot to hand, Daniel Anderson would have thrown it. The St Helens coach's rare half-time outburst in the glare of the cameras - “a soliloquy on our standards”, he described it - would have made a lip-reader, possibly even Joe Kinnear, blush.

Photographs of numerous triumphs under Anderson were pinned to the dressing-room wall, but no reminders could raise St Helens sufficiently to prevent the irresistible Leeds Rhinos from repeating last year's Grand Final victory at their expense.

Just as Anderson “lost it”, St Helens had the plot stolen from them at Old Trafford on Saturday by tactically astute and resolutely determined rivals under the inspired guidance of Brian McClennan, a 24-16 triumph securing first back-to-back league titles in the club's history. Kevin Sinfield, the captain, lifted the trophy for a third time in five seasons and pinpointed the coach's influence in transforming the apparent calamity of a 38-10 thrashing by St Helens in the qualifying semi-final two weeks previously.

Leeds are an outstanding wetweather team, as their grinding victory over Melbourne Storm in the World Club Challenge in February emphasised. As well as a filthy night, Leeds had the advantage of an indomitable inner strength. McClennan, whose motivational skills with a victorious New Zealand team broke Australia's stranglehold in the 2005 Tri-Nations tournament, said: “I'm astounded at times at the toughness of these players. There were times when we just had to defend and defend and they just kept lining up.”

Few outside the Leeds camp believed that they would derail St Helens, who had gone 24 matches without a loss since April. So when McClennan insisted that England, whose World Cup squad of 24 could comprise up to 17 Leeds and St Helens players when it is named tomorrow, have a good chance of upsetting Australia in the tournament, the doom-mongers are advised to take notice. “The English guys have got the confidence,” McClennan said. “I just think Australia are there to be beaten.”

A year ago McClennan watched Leeds win the final under Tony Smith while at home in Auckland. Although his international pedigree was unquestioned, his club experience was limited to the New Zealand domestic competition and some questioned his appointment. McClennan called Sinfield a week later. “I knew as soon as I came off the phone that we'd struck a chord,” he said. “I thought, ‘Yeah, this is going to be a blast.'”

It was telling how an occasion that had centred on Anderson's last match in charge of St Helens and the possibility of a second league and Carnegie Challenge Cup double under him in three years, went awry from the start. Despite James Graham's try after five minutes, Leeds had begun to dictate the ruck area. Their forwards steamrollered over the top of their opponents and Sinfield's faultless kicking game persistently bewildered St Helens and was responsible for Danny McGuire's crucial brace of second-half tries.

Whenever Sean Long and Leon Pryce got sight of the ball, a clutch of Rhinos players clattered into the St Helens half backs. There was no room for them to manoeuvre, while attempts to exploit Lee Smith as a weak link at full back after a back injury to Brent Webb were confounded by the converted wing's remarkable man-of-the-match display - one that will surely result in the 22-year-old receiving an England call-up.

Anderson may have guided his team to five trophies in three years, but his mood on his return to Australia will be different from that of the Leeds contingent who set off there next week for the World Cup, not least Jamie Peacock. The England captain picked up an unprecedented fifth winner's gold ring, his second with Leeds, after collecting three with Bradford Bulls. The trick now is blending with the St Helens personnel into one happy and winning England team and McClennan's formidable sense of belief with Leeds could serve to inspire Tony Smith's squad.