Hull KR-Leigh Leopards final reminds us why we love sport - James O'Brien comment

Brad Schneider knows as soon as it leaves his boot. His team-mates and the Hull KR supporters with the best view in the house are not far behind.

There are enough cues for the rest of the Rovers fans packed inside Headingley to join the party but they won't believe it until the ball lands and the referee blows his whistle to signal the end of the game. Some still won't believe it days on.

The ball was in the air long enough for those supporters to fear the worst: the drop-goal attempt floating wide and Wigan Warriors stealing the win at the other end, just as they had two months earlier at Craven Park.

Even though they had witnessed a Schneider golden-point winner on the same Headingley turf the previous week, the memory bank was packed full of reasons to doubt what they were seeing.

Nice things don't happen to Hull KR – and if they do, there is usually a catch.

The last time they won a Challenge Cup semi-final in 2015, at Headingley no less, they were crushed by Leeds Rhinos in a humiliating 50-0 Wembley hammering.

Minds will wander back to that painful afternoon as the club's return to the national stadium for the August 12 date with Leigh Leopards draws closer.

The sight of Leeds' five-try hero Tom Briscoe in leopard print will do little to calm the nerves, not to mention Gareth O’Brien who sent Rovers down in 2016.

Leigh have to go all the way back to 1971 for their last taste of a Challenge Cup final.

Up until this year, the summer era had amounted to three failed attempts to crack Super League.

As if fans of rival clubs didn’t have enough ammo, eccentric owner Derek Beaumont rebranded Leigh as Leopards.

With Adrian Lam's side second in Super League and within touching distance of a first major trophy in 41 years, nobody is laughing now.

For fans of Leigh and Hull KR, and even neutrals, last weekend was a reminder of why we do it – because sport throws up enough reasons to make us question how we ever ended up on this rollercoaster.

It is an addiction, an obsession. It is an escape from the stresses of life, yet only serves to amplify them.

Cricket fans gripped by Ashes fever spent the end of last week checking weather forecasts for Old Trafford. Checking multiple weather forecasts. Checking multiple weather forecasts multiple times an hour.

In the same way a watched pot never boils, the band of rain that lingered over the north of England wasn't going to budge.

In the end, the rain won and washed away England's chances of regaining the Ashes.

All that was left to do was pick apart the sport's traditions to create a scenario where England go to The Oval level at 2-2.

Sport is unique in the way it toys with emotions and dictates moods. It shouldn’t have a hold on you, yet it does against all logic.

As if there haven’t been enough reminders from loved ones over the years, it is only a game after all.

In most cases, sport gets you from an early age and almost becomes part of your DNA. It shapes friendships and can even divide families.

Being a supporter isn’t about winning each and every week – if it was, there wouldn’t be enough interest to sustain it – but the pursuit of an emotional high that is hard to replicate in everyday life, no matter how rare.

In 33 years as a Leeds United fan, the genuine highs that ended in success can be counted on one hand. If and when success comes, it makes all the years of misery worthwhile.

Even the clubs that have it good only have it good for so long.

St Helens have had the Super League trophy under lock and key since 2019 but lost five Grand Finals in a row not so long ago and there are signs that their period of recent dominance is coming to an end.

Manchester United dominated English football between 1993 and 2013 but they have had to watch neighbours Manchester City clean up in recent times as their wait for a 14th Premier League title goes on.

There are no scripts and that is what makes sport so engrossing and unbearable in equal measure.

Few, if anybody, saw both St Helens and Wigan falling at the semi-final stage of the Challenge Cup.

A fresh name on the trophy is guaranteed, a thought to excite and terrify supporters of Hull KR and Leigh as they begin the countdown to Wembley.

Sport is risking having your worst day in the hope you’ll have your best. Even if the result goes against them, the supporters of the losing side will be back for more the following week chasing the unique high that only sport can bring.

Until then, they will hope, wish and pray – because in the end, that is all you can do as a sports fan.