The irony of Saturday’s rugby double-header in Manchester is that when the fixtures were confirmed to be taking place on the same day, many rugby league fans feared there would only be one game that mattered in the sporting world. That has turned out to be the case, but it will not be the Etihad Stadium’s dead rubber where all eyes will be fixed, it will be a sold-out Old Trafford for one of the most anticipated Grand Final encounters in years.
It is a final befitting the grand stage Old Trafford provides; first against second in the league table, two of the game’s most famous names going head to head, and there are more subplots than you can shake a stick at. The country seems to be coming slowly aware of the enormity of the occasion, but rugby league fans have known for weeks that if this were to be the final, it would be unmissable.
The amount of stories intertwined within the framework of the game is fascinating; the most dominating of those being the impending retirement of three of the greatest players Leeds have had. Perhaps their greatest overseas signing, probably their best ever signing and undoubtedly their greatest captain – Kylie Leuluai, Jamie Peacock and Kevin Sinfield – will all call it a day for the Rhinos after the match, with history awaiting them if they bow out with a victory.
It is not only the Grand Final Wigan are aiming to prevent Leeds from winning, but also the treble – the third, after Bradford in 2003 (with Peacock to the fore) and St Helens in 2006, in the 20-year history of Super League. “In my 19 seasons at the Rhinos we’ve never had an opportunity like this to do it before,” said Sinfield. “You don’t know what will happen but it’d be right up there with everything I’ve done, but how the team have performed this year and the trophies we’ve won already have made it a special year for everyone – not just the three that are leaving.”
While all the talk is of Leeds’s retiring heroes and the “no motivation needed” motto from the Rhinos camp to send them out on a high with a seventh Grand Final win, Wigan have a similar agenda. The Warriors, seeking a second Grand Final success in three years after victory against Warrington in 2013 and defeat to St Helens last year, will be equally keen to send one of rugby league’s quiet and most unassuming men off into the sunset with a prize that has passed him.
Had Wigan not paid a six-figure sum to bring Sam Tomkins back from the NRL next year, the demand from Warriors fans for the Australian full-back Matty Bowen to continue playing would have been heard on both sides of the Pennies, such has been his form this year. The 33-year-old has lost Grand Finals on both sides of the world, but he has the chance to correct that on Saturday, six days on from his only other professional club, North Queensland Cowboys, winning their first NRL Premiership last Sunday. “It would be a perfect ending,” he said. “Leeds won’t come and lay down for us, though.
“I’ve really enjoyed my time here and I’m determined to go out on a high, I’ll be enjoying it all as it’s the last time, and I want to get the win not only for myself, but most importantly for Wigan. I made my mind up during the year that this would be it, but I’ve got one more game left and it’ll be one to remember.”
It seems amazing it has been 17 years since Leeds played Wigan in the first Grand Final – their only meeting in this famous event – and a lot has changed since then. But more interesting than the inevitable comparisons between the price of milk and the chart-toppers of October 1998 is pinning down where Sinfield, the man who has been the heartbeat of the Rhinos for more than a decade, was that night, when Jason Robinson skipped through to score the try on a wet Manchester night that helped Wigan to a 10-4 triumph.
“I was here at Old Trafford,” Sinfield says. “I’d played a couple of times that year but we won the academy championship and we did the lap of honour at half-time around the pitch. It was a special night I’ll always remember, even though Leeds didn’t get the result. That game gave everyone a sense of what we could achieve with the Grand Final and what Super League could produce year after year.”
Although not every Grand Final since then has been an unadulterated classic, this one certainly seems to fit the bill. Throw in the fact Wigan have never lost to Leeds in a major final – the record stands at 6-0, seven if you include a Charity Shield win in 1995 – and battles such as Ryan Hall and Tom Briscoe v Dom Manfredi and Joe Burgess on the wings and Zak Hardaker v Bowen at full-back it is hard to not wish 6pm Saturday comes round as quickly as possible.
The four games between the clubs this season have produced two wins apiece. Manchester, or at least one side of it, will be rocking on Saturday as these two great rivals look to settle the score. If it is half as good as their previous encounters in 2015 the sell-out crowd are in for a treat.
Where game will be won and lost
Zak Hardaker v Matty Bowen
Two full-backs at opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of age, but the young buck in Hardaker already has what Bowen is yet to secure in his career: a Grand Final winners’ ring. Their battle at the back will be crucial, not least because their form in 2015 has been pivotal to getting their respective teams to Old Trafford. Hardaker prides himself on his defensive game; it will have to be on top form to keep Bowen quiet.
Rob Burrow v Michael McIlorum
The Leeds legend in Burrow squares off against the Leeds-born Wigan icon McIlorum at hooker, with this duel vital for the Rhinos. Leeds will be without star hooker Paul Aiton through injury, meaning Burrow will be handed the task of charging Leeds’ go-forward from the base of the ruck. McIlorum, so often one of Wigan’s key men, will be crucial to his side’s chances of seeing off Leeds at Old Trafford.
Adam Cuthbertson v Sean O’Loughlin
The conflict at loose-forward is one of the most intriguing of the lot. On one hand you have Cuthbertson, one of Leeds’ best performers in 2015 and a prop by trade, whereas the Wigan captain O’Loughlin is very much a thoroughbred at 13. Wigan’s confidence levels are much higher when their talismanic captain is out on the field, but he will find the going tough against the robust Cuthbertson directly opposite him.
