Given the entertainment the back end of this season has provided, there was no way that the Million Pound Game, arguably the biggest of the campaign to date, was going to be anything other than dramatic. It took a while to spark into life, but the fact it was not decided until the last minute is surely another tick in the box for the Rugby Football League and the Super 8s. The drama and the excitement of the game will be of little consolation to Bradford, who are facing up to a second season outside of the top flight.
However, had the Bradford forward Danny Addy kicked a late penalty, it could have been different. That would have levelled the game at 18-18 heading into the final 10 minutes, but after he struck it wide, Wakefield fought back to secure their place in Super League next season.
They were bottom of Super League after 23 rounds this year and brought in a new coach and nine players mid-season to ready them for the Super 8s and their quest to beat the drop. Ultimately, it worked despite winning three games against Super League opposition all season. One of those short-term signings, the hooker Scott Moore, sealed the result with a 79th-minute try.
Wakefield were the better side in the opening half and after Danny Kirmond broke the deadlock with a well-taken try, they extended their lead soon after the interval. Joe Arundel had missed a simple penalty attempt to make it 8-0 before the break but he was on target in converting Anthony Mullally’s try to put the Wildcats 12-0 up.
Bradford fought back well though, with tries from Danny Williams and Matty Blythe narrowing the gap to two, before Danny Washbrook had appeared to give Wakefield a comfortable buffer with 20 minutes to go. Again Bradford fought back well and their captain, Adrian Purtell, charged over from close range.
But Addy sliced that vital penalty attempt that would have set the game up for golden-point extra-time, before Moore ended the game.
The Bradford coach, James Lowes, did not like the idea of the Million Pound Game. “If this is the future of rugby league, I don’t want to be in it,” he said. “I just don’t think it’s the way forward for the game. I’ve got blokes who could lose their job based on one game – and they gave 100% out there. I hope we’ll be stronger for this experience in the Championship next year.”
Brian Smith, a former Bradford coach who was brought over from Australia in June to save Wakefield, had some sympathy for his opposite number. “I’ve tried to refrain from talking about this but, even though we’ve won, it’s got knobs on it,” he said. “It’s thoroughly debilitating.
“It’s almost impossible to talk about next season. It’s like going to the Olympics in the 400 metres and starting at the 450m mark.”
