Of the 34 men who will line up in the Grand Final rematch between Wigan and St Helens on Good Friday, there are perhaps none who understand the significance of the game as well as the Wigan scrum-half Matty Smith.
Smith, an England international, has featured on both sides in everyday matches and has even appeared for both teams in Grand Finals, the most recent in Wigan’s defeat against Saints last season.
Even though he is aiming to give Wigan’s season a much-needed shot in the arm, his allegiances were not always the same. For Smith is a boyhood St Helens fan and spent his early years going to Knowsley Road with his family, cheering on the side he will be aiming to topple on Friday afternoon.
“My earliest memories of the game have to include sitting on the wall at Knowsley Road with my brother, probably from the age of around four or five years old,” said the 27-year-old. “I know not many people have played on both sides of the feud, and the only derby I played in for Saints was the Grand Final in 2010 [which they lost]. It’s easily the first game I look for when the fixtures come out.
“I’m biased, having played on both sides of the rivalry, but it’s definitely the biggest game in rugby league. They’re always close games; even the ones I watched in the early 1990s as a fan when only Wigan were full-time, and Saints always used to run them close. It’s about who wants it the most on the day, and form goes out of the window.”
If what Smith says about form becoming a moot point on derby day is true, then that could bode well for Wigan. Even though the Saints slipped up to Hull KR last weekend, they still have six wins to their name this season, compared with only three for Wigan.
Smith is fully aware Wigan’s start to Super League XX has not been good enough but insists a win in front of a sellout DW Stadium, which would represent Wigan’s sixth consecutive Good Friday derby victory, could kickstart their season.
He said: “You can see where you’re at on Good Friday, get a balance of where you are in the league and where you’re going to finish. We’ve been nowhere near our best this year but sometimes it takes a game like this to get your season going properly.
“It’s going to be an exceptional afternoon, especially given the opposition. The crowd are like an extra man on days like this, and it’s a big game – we owe them for last year’s Grand Final.”
Wigan v St Helens is not the only televised Good Friday game that could be a sellout; there is also the West Yorkshire derby between Castleford and Leeds, who will feature their captain, Kevin Sinfield, for the first time since he announced he would cross codes and play for Yorkshire Carnegie at the end of the season.
