And that’s the lot from me tonight. Thanks for reading! Congratulations to St Helens on wrapping up a third straight Grand Final victory. Commiserations to the Dragons who fought them all the way: they’ll be back.
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Aaron Bower’s report is here:
James Maloney: “It hurts ... I’m shattered for the boys. We’ve done so much, we’ve worked so hard, but they were just too good. You never play the perfect game of footie ... you’ll always look at: what if this, what if that. That never goes away unfortunately.”
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Coach Steve McNamara is asked if he can feel good about the Dragons’ achievements: “Eventually we will ... but that’s pretty heart-breaking, to get this far. It was a really tough game of rugby league. That was really really hard, as Grand Finals should be ... probably some penalties [is where we lost it] ...
“Sam [Tomkins] was immense, I’ll be honest with you now after the game, I don’t know how he got on the field [with his injury] ... We lick our wounds ... I’m not sure what to say.”
The winning coach Kristian Woolf speaks: “It was an outstanding game of footie ... a lot of drama, a lot of controversy ... as a neutral you could not have asked for more. I’m proud of this group, they are special ... they’re a very, very special group of men.
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Naiqama, who scored two tries, speaks: “I’m so overwhelmed right now with emotion ... I love these boys, I love this team, I love this town ... I want to thank the players and staff, and my wife who has been a rock in the past few years, and shout out to my daughter ... I still can’t believe that we’ve done it ... I was in so much pain from getting a head knock [after the second try] ... we’re going to celebrate and enjoy this win for the next couple of nights.”
Rob Burrow is on hand, with his daughter and wife, to present the trophy. “Thank you so much mate, for everything you’ve done for the game ... you’re a legend,” Naiqama says to Burrow as he receives the award.
“It brings back so many memories [being at Old Trafford], and we’re just so incredibly proud of Rob,” says Burrow’s wife Lindsey.
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Commiserations to the Dragons, who looked to have one hand on the Super League trophy as we moved into the final quarter ... but in the end, the tenacity and the experience of St Helens shone through. Naiqama’s second try of the night sealed it.
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Full time! Dragons 10-12 St Helens!
Saints have done it ... they’ve won three Grand Finals in a row! It was Dragons that topped the league at the end of the season, but it’s St Helens who are the champions! What a tense, attritional match that was. Memorable stuff.
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79 mins: Time nearly up. The Dragons have the ball but are pinned back nearly under their posts. The tackling from Saints is relentless. The noise from the crowd is immense ... the ball is kicked into touch by the Dragons and it looks like St Helens have done it!
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77 min: A howler from Tom Davies as he fails to field a kick for the corner by Coote and knocks it on, and into touch instead. The Saints celebrate. The Dragons are not happy.
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74 min: Tomkins makes a strong burst through the defensive line but he slips as he moves into space near the try line. The Dragons put another kick up on the fifth tackle. Percival concedes another goalline drop-out. The French team come again, but a hospital pass for Tomkins sees the move break down. Woolf claps from his seat in the stand. Five minutes now for St Helens to hold on. Five minutes for the Dragons to fight back.
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72 min: Dragons move into the danger zone from a St Helens’ point of view. Drinkwater puts a kick up and it’s fumbled into touch behind the try line.
“This game has been tighter than a submarine door,” says the Sky co-commentator, whose name escaped me.
70 min: I just received an email from Barbara Schwandt.
It says: “TyyyyyytyyytttttthghrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrddrrrrrrrrrrrrrdrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrffsEwwwwd”
I presume you are a St Helens fan, Barbara?
10 minutes to go ...
67 min: In the stands, McNamara looks disgusted and he shakes his head. Woolf, in contrast, has a grin on his face. He knows that’s a huge blow in the story of this match. But we have more than 10 minutes and more still to play. There is a party atmosphere in the stadium all of a sudden, all the more so when McMeeken is penalised for a high hit.
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Try! 66 min: Dragons 10-12 St Helens (Naiqama)
Lomax sidefoots a grubber kick which is perfectly weighted, towards the try line, to his right. Naiqama is fastest to it, pouncing on the ball as it sits up nicely for him despite a forest of bodies all around. There are two tacklers on hand including Yaha but they can’t keep him out. That had been coming in the last few minutes and the kick from Lomax to create it simply oozed class. And we are all square with the kick to come ... Naiqama took a bang to the head as he scored that and is receiving treatment, and the referee appears to have put that incident on report after use of the knees by Yaha ... Coote adds the kick and Saints lead again!
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65 min: Bousquet is mercilessly triple-tackled as the Dragons try to make inroads. The ball is soon back with St Helens, who are looking the stronger and fitter side just at the minute.
63 min: Saints work the ball left then right as they threaten the Dragons’ line. But there’s a knock-on and the move breaks down. McNamara, the Dragons coach, gets to his feet and applauds that like his side have scored a try. The clock stops with 17 minutes left for a player to receive treatment. You sense there is a big finish coming.
60 min: Into the final quarter. Saints burst down the right wing with Batchelor. He tries to feed the ball inside to Makinson, with the Dragons defence really badly stretched ... but Tomkins, cleverly, is perfectly positioned to nab the ball and release the pressure on his team’s defence.
57 min: St Helens are back to full strength, of course, following the yellow card for Makinson. Catalans move through the gears as they advance into the Saints’ half. Maloney tries a low kick towards the try line but it comes to nothing. Still, the Dragons are looking very composed and using the ball well when they have it. It’s Saints who need to up the tempo, trailing as they do by four points.
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55 min: Tomkins’ fitness was a doubt before this, and his knee is heavily strapped, but he does not appear to be having any issues with his movement. Now though, for him and for all the players, it’s about fitness, endurance, and physical conditioning as we move towards the final quarter. It’s tiring just watching it, the fitness of these players is always something to behold.
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53 min: Dean Whare has gone off injured for the Dragons, which is a blow for them. The Sky touchline reporter says he was holding his ‘pec’, so I guess his pectoral or his chest.
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Try! 49 min: Dragons 10-6 St Helens (McMeeken)
The Dragons lead! A kick is put up to the corner, it’s patted back to around the try line after teams from both teams contest for it ... McMeeken is lurking. He flops down, scores, and celebrates wildly! And so do the fans! Maloney drills over a fantastic conversion. Big, big drama at Old Trafford and a glimpse of glory for the Dragons!
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49 min: Drinkwater produces a stunning kick to touch for the Dragons, to the left corner. Saints are pinned back in their half. Pressure on the team who have won the previous two finals ...
47 min: A fine interception by Welsby relieves the pressure on the Saints defence following the penalty against Makinson.
45 min: Yellow card for St Helens! Makinson
It’s 10 minutes in the bin for the Saints man. Catalans now with a man advantage but they are two points behind.
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45 min: Langi runs on to a pass on the left wing and it takes three men to bring him down. Maloney then tries a grubber kick from a central position but it’s repelled. There is a kick to the corner, Yaha is smashed into touch, and the referee is having a look on the video ... it looked much worse on first viewing and at full speed, it seems to me. It was high but it wasn’t maliciously so.
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43 min: On replay it looks like Maloney didn’t miss touch: Coote dived to pat the ball back in, but his foot was in touch, so that was a let-off for St Helens. This is tense, anyway, with a less frenetic pace to the match now, but each side knowing that every point, every tackle, every kick is going to be crucial.
42 min: Mata’utia is penalised for a high tackle as he tries to run a kick back. But Maloney misses touch with his kick and that’s a bad error which gifts possession back to St Helens.
Second-half kick-off!
Here we go – all to play for – in 40 minutes or so we will have new Super League champions.
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Some half-time thoughts from Aaron Bower at Old Trafford:
‘And breathe. It is finely poised at Old Trafford, which is perhaps all the neutrals could have hoped for heading into half-time. St Helens lead by two, but if you look beyond the scoreline, you feel as though the greater moments have belonged to their reigning champions. Their kicking game has turned Catalans around more than the Dragons’ has done to the Saints, and the amount of defending the Frenchmen had to do in the opening quarter could yet be decisive as the Grand Final enters its final moments. This is, however, shaping up to be a classic.’
Half-time! Dragons 4-6 St Helens
That was full-on. St Helens came roaring into the final, and had the Dragons under massive pressure early on. Naiqama scored a fine try, but you sense the Dragons will be satisfied with only trailing by two points at this stage after a relentless first 40. See you soon for more.
39 min: Davies of the Dragons, who has been smashed a couple of times himself, makes a brilliant tackle on Grace after a fine pass by Coote for Saints.
37 min: St Helens’ Pa’asi and Mata’utia absolutely double-smash Davies in another bone-juddering tackle. This is making my body ache just watching it. Now Roby is taken high. A couple of minutes to go until half-time.
34 min: Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook of St Helens, who has just come on, appears to take out Tomkins in the air. He holds his hands up, but players from both sides rush in for a bit of a dust-up anyway. It’s a penalty only for the Dragons. Some might say that was a touch lucky for “LMS”, even if he was apparently pulling out of the challenge, it was still a very dangerous one.
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32 min: The sides are cancelling out each other a little at the moment, if smashing into each other at full pelt every couple of seconds can be called such a thing. And now there’s another fight!
30 min: The Dragons run the ball out from under their sticks through Davies. Makinson crunches into what looked like a no-arms tackle and flattens him. Referee is happy, though.
Penalty! 27 min: Dragons 4-6 St Helens (Maloney)
Dragons close the gap a little as Maloney smacks a straightforward kick through the middle.
23 min: It was a mad, manic first 20 and the tempo has dropped slightly now. Dragons attack down their right wing. Kasiano, who has just come on, knocks on, but then a mistake by Percival gives the ball back. The French team spin the ball to the left, and there is space and a glimpse of the try line for Yaha, but a thunderous hit by Knowles stops them in their tracks. However, Saints are under sustained pressure for the first time in the match. Now Dragons have a penalty and they choose, after some deliberation, to kick it for goal.
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Penalty! 22 min: Dragons 2-6 St Helens (Coote)
No problem with the kick from a central position, and St Helens are starting to take a bit of a strangehold on this match.
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21 min: Lomax needs treatment after that high hit. Apparently, Eric Cantona sent a good luck message to Catalans Dragons before this match. Meanwhile the comedian and presenter Adam Hills is pictured up in the stands.
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20 min: Lomax is taken high by Garcia of Dragons. Saints have a penalty and a handy opportunity to extend their lead as we move into the second quarter of this Grand Final.
17 min: There is a chargedown / knock-on by Percival as Catalans try to run the ball out. Eventually Grace dots the ball down and the crowd roars, but the referee brings it back for the knock-on, and the score remains at 2-4 to Saints.
15 min: Batchelor runs hard up the middle. Dragons, who had so much defending to do in the first 10 minutes, are perhaps looking a little bit leggy in defence, even at this early stage.
Try! 13 min: Dragons 2-4 St Helens (Naiqama)
Stunning work by Lomax, who draws three defenders before offloading to his right. Naiqama, with a sniff of the line, darts inside and is double-tackled over the line, but has the strength and presence of mind to dot the ball down. All the significant attacks from Saints have come down that right wing.
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12 min: Maloney now looks for Tomkins with an offload off his left hand. But Percival charges out of the defensive line and forces Tomkins to shovel the ball on rather than catch. Dragons are then pinged for offside and Saints attack ...
10 min! Penalty! Catalans Dragons 2-0 St Helens (Maloney)
James Maloney, whose chargedown led to that attack for the Dragons, knocks the penalty straight through the middle. A good kick, and that brings up 400 points for the Australian in his Dragons career. He will leave the club after this match.
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8 min: There’s a brilliant charge down by Maloney for Catalans Dragons in midfield. St Helens are penalised for offside as the French team charge up the middle. McNamara is on his feet, it looks like because he wanted the referee to let that go. Still, psychologically, it’s a big lift for the Dragons that they are not only level, but now have a penalty ...
6 min: There was a flare-up between Tomkins and Mata’utia a couple of minutes ago. The crowd noise was already huge, and that little fight took the massive din to a new level. The rain, meanwhile, is lashing down, this being Manchester. The score remains 0-0 but it’s all St Helens.
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4 min: Huge pressure on the Catalans Dragons’ line early doors. This time it’s Makinson who nearly gets in on the right wing after the ball is spun wide through the hands. But a brilliant bit of scramble defence shoves him out over the line. Still Saints have the ball, though, and still they keep coming. The Dragons’ defence is holding firm for now.
3 min: Saints’ Naiqama finds space to dart for the corner on the right wing! He’s tackled, and then there’s another player over the try line, but he’s held up and it’s no try.
1 min: Catalans try and smash up the middle before Maloney kicks from around halfway on the fifth tackle. Some swarming defence from Saints to start.
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First-half kick-off!
Let’s go! Pies, peas, power and pace!
Michael Buffer, boxing introducer extraordinaire, gives it a big ‘Let’s get ready to rumble’ on a pre-recorded video. This is the fourth meeting of these sides this season and Catalans lead 2-1.
Here we go! The teams are walking out from the Old Trafford tunnel, and the crowd is going bonkers. The two coaches lead their respective teams out, à la the FA Cup final. It’s a 13th Grand Final appearance for St Helens. It’s the first time for Catalan Dragons.
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Massive reproductions of the two clubs’ badges are now being revolved and shaken by British army soldiers. Shouldn’t they be busy delivering petrol? The soprano Laura Wright is now singing Jerusalem, and singing it very well too. The teams are ready to come out, the fans are waving their flags like there’s no tomorrow.
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We’re not far away now. The trophy has been brought out on to the pitch, and now the considerable crowd is being treated to a pyrotechnics show and a dash of guitar-based rock. Five minutes until showtime.
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Kristian Woolf, the St Helens coach, has a chat with Sky Sports: “It’s a great opportunity for us obviously ... I’ve said it before but I think we’ve played our best footie at the back end of the year ... we played really well last week ... it’s about 80 minutes now.
“It’s about getting it done, and we’ve done it before ... it’s a special group of men with a special bond amongst them. They work really hard and they deserve everything they get. We understand most people would rather see Catalans win. We’ve got our own motives ... to come away with a win. We’ve just go to enjoy the game, enjoy the occasion ... if we stay relaxed, we stay focused, we’re going to give ourselves a real chance.”
And here is Aaron’s piece with Jack Welsby from a couple of days ago:
A pre-match word from Aaron Bower, our reporter on the scene this evening:
It is far from your ordinary Old Trafford atmosphere with kick-off approaching. To the left of the press box, there is the usual rowdiness from the thousands of St Helens supporters in the Stratford End. But to the right, it feels much more subdued as the Catalans players warm up. You suspect the Dragons’ ability to adjust to the occasion in the early stages will be key to them standing a chance of completing the job and writing the final chapter of the most incredible rugby league script.
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The Catalans Dragons coach, Steve McNamara, is asked about Sam Tomkins’ fitness (Tomkins hasn’t trained for three weeks): “I think he’s tested, he’s fit to go ... he doesn’t need to train, he’s trained with this team for years and they know him inside out ... it [rest] was the best way to get his knee ready for this game, and he plays.
“It [the Grand Final] means a lot ... rather than getting lost in all of that it’s about playing well tonight ... we’ve stayed humble all season ... let’s get the game out the way and hopefully we can talk about it afterwards.
“Defence wins grand finals ... because the games are so close ... I see this as another step in the right direction [for the club].”
Sam Tomkins of Catalans Dragons, who was a fitness doubt for tonight’s match but is in condition to play, had a chat with Sky Sports earlier: “The training this week and the mood in the camp has been really good ... We know we need to be at our very best to beat St Helens, and that’s what we’ve got to do today.”
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Aaron Bower’s match preview, including those quotes from each side’s coach insisting their is no pressure on their players, is here:
Sky Sports just spoke to Rob Burrow and his family: Burrow is at Old Trafford today to present the man of the match award.
“I’ve got some fantastic memories of this stadium but I think this will be one of the best,” he says.
You can read Donald McRae’s interview with Burrow, from back in August, here:
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In one of Sky Sports’ pundits chairs, Martin Offiah remembers a rather amusing piece of feedback from a coach following a final one year (he doesn’t say which one):
“Apart from those five tries, you didn’t really do much else.”
Teams again, but this time, via the magic of Twitter:
La compo alignée par Steve McNamara pour la Finale#Dragons🐉 pic.twitter.com/OXg2u7Aowy
— Dragons Catalans (@DragonsOfficiel) October 9, 2021
🔵⚪ 𝙎𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙨 𝙂𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙁𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙏𝙚𝙖𝙢! 🔵⚪
— St.Helens R.F.C. (@Saints1890) October 9, 2021
Your Saints team hoping to do you proud at Old Trafford this evening! 🤞#COYS
The teams
Catalans Dragons: S. Tomkins, Davies, Whare, Langi, Yaha, Maloney, Drinkwater, Bousquet, McIlorum, Dudson, Whitley, McMeeken, Garcia. Replacements: Mourgue, Goudemand, J. Tomkins, Kasiano.
St Helens: Coote, Makinson, Naiqama, Percival, Grace, Lomax, Dodd, Walmsley, Roby, Lees, Mata’utia, Batchelor, Knowles. Replacements: McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Amor, Pa’asi, Welsby.
Referee: Liam Moore (RFL)
Preamble
In 2018, Catalans Dragons became the first non-British team to lift the Challenge Cup. This year, they won the Super League Leaders’ Shield by topping the table for the first time. Today, they can make yet more history by becoming the first foreign team to win a Super League Grand Final.
Just one problem: St Helens, who have won the previous two Grand Finals and are aiming to become just the second team to complete three consecutive final victories, are this evening’s opponents at Old Trafford. Any end-of-season final brings a certain amount of nervous tension, but which of these teams will be feeling more nervous tension at what is at stake?
“There is no pressure on us ... Saints are clearly the favourites,” the Catalans coach Steve McNamara said this week. “There is no pressure on the group whatsoever this year because of what the group has achieved over the last two years,” insisted McNamara’s St Helens counterpart, Kristian Woolf.
No pressure, then? But plenty to play for. Kick-off is at 6pm, and there’s pre-match reading and team news coming right up.
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