Super League Grand Final: Too far-fetched for Hollywood

There is an age-old adage that sport can be so preposterous that even the most talented of scriptwriters would think the story line too far-fetched to make believable.

That they would sit around the table with their producers and directors, writers and runners, all spouting about how they need to produce something that can actually happen in real life.

‘It wouldn’t bounce off the post’, ‘he wouldn’t be able to score that try, ‘they wouldn’t go back-to-back from fifth’, would be the cries as they pull together a Grand Final that sees the favourites win by a healthy margin and celebrate their success.

But Jack Welsby did collect the bouncing ball in the 2020 Grand Final, Rob Burrow did duck through the St Helens defence to score that try in 2011, and Leeds Rhinos did in fact win the whole thing from fifth in the table in both 2011 and 2012.

That is not to say the result does not go the way it was expected to go – the ‘golden era’ of the Rhinos did secure the treble and an incredible St Helens side went four in a row from 2019-2022 – but even in those victories there is a story to be told.

Through those dominant wins, Super League got to say a fond farewell to a team that included stalwarts such as Jamie Jones-Buchanan, Kevin Sinfield, Jamie Peacock and Burrow. Legendary prop James Graham finally got a Grand Final winners’ ring. St Helens finally got their victory over Leeds on the hallowed turf.

In the big game at the end of the season, Super League gets 80 minutes of experiencing why the sport writes its own script, the players walking out of the tunnel at the ‘Theatre of Dreams’ and being met with an eruption of sound that feels like it could knock you off your feet.

As a child growing up in the north of England, watching your team getting to experience that moment felt like a fever dream, that your town or city was never going to top what was about to happen.

It was all that was talked about the week in advance; shops adorning banners, schools decorating classrooms, and the local council putting celebration plans in place just in case.

Families would be deciding between booking a minibus or a coach, the club shop would be packed to the rafters, and there would be queues winding around the stadium of fans ensuring they had tickets for the big game.

In Wigan and Hull at the moment, the Super League Grand Final will be the epicentre of the area’s identity and only at 8pm on Saturday will they know if that is due to jubilation or heartbreak.

The fans from Wigan Warriors and Hull KR that head to Old Trafford on October 12 will feel that if their side claims victory, it is as much theirs as the players on that pitch. They shop in the same supermarkets, their children attend the same schools, and they go to work every week so that on a Friday night, they can go and watch their hometown play rugby league.

Indeed, when celebrating, those players will head to local pubs packed with fans, joining as one for the most joyous moment of their year. An open top bus parade will go through the streets that the players and the fans grew up on, all of them marvelling at how this one small town brought them to this life-altering moment.

Ultimately, if the winning borough could declare their own bank holiday, it would be a week-long party.

Now, Wigan Warriors and Hull KR get to write their own script: will a dynasty be born or will history be re-written by the Robins?

Live Betfred Super League

Saturday 12th October 5:00pm

How to watch

The Super League Grand Final takes place at Old Trafford on Saturday October 12, live on Sky Sports.

The match will take place at 6pm, with coverage on Sky Sports from 5pm.

Sky Sports+ has officially launched and will be integrated into Sky TV, streaming service NOW and the Sky Sports app, giving Sky Sports customers access to over 50 per cent more live sport this year at no extra cost. Find out more here.