McClennan has had a dream start to life as coach of the Rhinos

Sinfield took over at stand-off after a shoulder injury to Danny McGuire as the Rhinos saw off the Aussies 11-4.

"I hope we keep the ball-playing lock in the English game. Had we not had that we'd have been in trouble," McClennan told BBC Sport.

"Because Kevin Sinfield has the skills of a stand-off he was able to fit into that role without a problem."

He added: "When you lose somebody with the calibre of an international star in Danny McGuire, you can really sweat.

"But because we had a traditional English lock in Kevin Sinfield we were able to get over that."

I feel like I'm the luckiest coach in the world. Leeds are letting me go along for the ride - and what a ride it is Brian McClennan

At a windswept and rainy Elland Road, defences were largely on top, leaving McClennan to pay tribute to both teams for powering on in difficult conditions.

"We really had to do it tough. It's no wonder Melbourne Storm have been such a dominant side over the last two years in the NRL," the former New Zealand coach explained.

"Both sides had to defend hard and it was difficult to show the flair both sides have in their attack.

"It's quite hard to appreciate unless you walk out on the field how windy it was. The winds were gusting between 30 and 40mph - that's hard conditions to play.

"Both teams should be congratulated for playing as you have to play in a cup game - intense and tough."

We knew what Leeds were capable of all along and they're a really good team Storm coach Craig Bellamy

Victory was the fifth straight for an English team in the fixture and it also continued the dream start McClennan has had since succeeding Tony Smith as the Rhinos' coach.

"I feel like I'm the luckiest coach in the world," McClennan enthused after a fifth consecutive Leeds victory under his stewardship.

"I'm very grateful to the club, the staff and players - they're letting me hang around them and go along for the ride.

"And what a ride it is. I'm very proud to call myself a Rhino."

Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy felt his players gave everything they had to take the trophy back to Australia.

"I was really proud of their efforts," he said.

"I thought our attack struggled and we didn't put them under too much pressure. They basically had the better of the field position but our attitude and defence was tremendous.