Former Wigan winger Brian Carney says he is expecting a "legally brutal" contest in tonight's 2020 Betfred Super League Grand Final.
Since the end of his playing days, the Irishman become synonymous with Sky Sports' coverage of Super League and will again be taking on the hosting duties this evening for a contest he thinks is the closest-matched in recent memory.
"The League Leaders Shield was awarded in a funny way this year and we all understand that," said Sky Sports Rugby League expert Carney, who spent five seasons with the Warriors.
"Wigan will go into the record books as League Leaders, but I can't split Wigan or St Helens. You've got the two best teams for the Grand Final and you could put out a very strong argument for both teams being the best in the competition.
"There may have been Grand Finals that have been equally as tight but I cannot recall one."
When the two sides met last month, Wigan ran out 18-6 winners in a bruising contest at the Totally Wicked Stadium. And Carney expects tonight's clash to be every bit as physical.
"I think we're going to see a fractious Grand Final and in fact, I'm quite hoping we see a fractious Grand Final," he said.
"That game that they gave us four weeks ago had that much nastiness attached to it, particularly from a Wigan side, it was eye-opening.
"I found myself thinking 'where has this come from?'. Not only did they physically want to get into them, but verbally - they wanted to stand over them and let them know that they were physically giving it to them.
"St Helens got dragged into the trenches and it didn't suit St Helens as much as it suited Wigan. That seemed to sit really comfortably on Wigan's shoulders and those aggressive young forwards that they have, they relished that.
"I would expect much of the same from Wigan, but it isn't a suggestion that Wigan lost their heads - it sits comfortably with them.
"I'm expecting a legally brutal edge to this Grand Final that we haven't seen in a long time."
Wigan have Sam Powell back in the squad after he missed the semi-final victory over Hull FC for personal reasons, meaning coach Adrian Lam will reshuffle his spine, despite Jackson Hastings' Man of the Match performance at hooker last time out.
Ben Flower has not been able to recover from a hamstring injury in time to feature, bringing a premature end to his career with the Warriors.
The match will of course also be the final 80 minutes in the career of Wigan skipper Sean O'Loughlin, who - like James Graham for St Helens - will hang up his boots at the final hooter.
Watch the Super League Grand Final tonight from 7pm exclusively live on Sky Sports Main Event and NOW TV.
