Leeds snatched victory against Iestyn Harris's Crusaders with two late tries in a dramatic Racecourse Ground finale.
After Peter Lupton's try proved the only score of the first half, Crusaders looked set for victory when Michael Witt landed a penalty to make it 6-0.
Danny McGuire's try 11 minutes from time, converted by Kevin Sinfield, then brought Leeds level.
But, after Witt's drop-goal put his side back in front, Leeds stunned the Welshmen with Ali Lauitiiti's try.
Sinfield converted that one too, with just four minutes left, to seal the Rhinos' comeback.
That earned a second successive win which lifts Leeds back above Catalan Dragons into fifth place in Super League.
Crusaders old boy Weller Hauraki lined up against his former team for the first time in the Leeds second row.
But the hosts had fit-again Gareth Thomas back in their ranks and it was the 100-times capped ex-Wales union international who set up loose-forward Lupton for the Crusaders' 10th minute try.
Leeds' attempts to respond were thwarted by the quality of the home defence and the persistent drizzle that made handling tricky.
It took until the 54th minute for the scoreboard to change again when the Rhinos infringed 26 yards from their own line and Witt opted to kick the goal.
But the frustrated Rhinos eventually clicked when McGuire went over. And, although Witt put the home side back in front five minutes later, Lauitiiti gave Leeds the final word.
POST-MATCH VIEWS
Crusaders coach Iestyn Harris:
"It is extremely frustrating. I thought attitude and desire-wise that was our best performance of the year.
"I thought they all showed that the Crusaders are ready to play for each other. We were desperately unlucky not to come away with the two points convincingly.
"I've just been in the changing room, looked them all in the eyes and congratulated them on a good performance as I thought they were outstanding."
Leeds coach Brian McDermott:
"I kept the players on the field to say 'Don't listen to anyone who says we got away with that one'. To use a term like we got out jail suggests we had things go our way which we didn't deserve, but I can't think of too many of them.
"They had a hell of a lot of sets on our try line and took a lot of juice out of us. Once we resisted them, we 100 per cent deserved the victory.
"It was a good old fashioned bash-each-other game of rugby league. You have to give a hell of a lot of credit to the Crusaders."
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