The Super League XXIX champions will be crowned on Saturday night when the Theatre of Dreams opens its doors to the Wigan Warriors and Hull KR as the top two in the regular season meet in the Grand Final at Old Trafford.
These two teams have been the best in the Super League all season but only one of them can walk away with the crown and given how well both teams are set up to defend and the strike power they have in attack we should be in for a brilliant conclusion to the campaign.
Where to watch
The match will be shown live and in full on the Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports+ channels with the build-up beginning at 5pm ahead of the 6pm kick off.
Wigan Warriors
With the exception of a couple of weeks in the middle of the season where the Wigan Warriors seemed to lose their way a little bit, they have been the best team in the competition and they are now just 80 minutes away from winning the World Club Challenge, Challenge Cup, Leaders’ Shield and the Super League trophy all in the same season which would install them as one of the greatest teams that British rugby league will ever have seen.
It would also be a second successive Super League crown for the Warriors as they go about creating their own dynasty and if the last few weeks are anything to go by then they are going to be very tough to stop. They haven’t conceded a point in their last three matches and have scored for fun. You get the feeling that if they open the scoring early in this match they could move through the gears and show all of their class such is the confidence that they are playing with.
Hull KR
Hull KR have been steadily building into one of the better teams in Super League for a while and they have already achieved something they have never done before purely in making it to this Grand Final. This will be the first time they will have played at Old Trafford but they won’t want to arrive here and purely make up the numbers. They will be out to take their opportunity and grab the title at the first time of asking and will need to be at their best if they are going to do that.
The Robins have won 11 of their last 12 matches including the semi-final win over Warrington Wolves last week but it could be significant that the one that they lost in that period was against Wigan when the league leaders’ shield was as good as on the line. They won’t want history to repeat itself and if it isn’t going to then Hull KR need to make full use of every attacking opportunity that they get across the 80 minutes. They will also need to defend for their lives.
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Team News
Matt Peet has had the luxury of naming an unchanged Wigan Warriors squad for this Grand Final and unless there was a late injury or illness in the lead up to the match they are expected to go in with the 17 which won the semi-final last week.
Hull KR will be boosted by the return of their captain Elliot Minchella, who completed his suspension last week. He is likely to come into the starting XIII in place of Dean Hadley in what will be an otherwise unchanged side for the Robins.
Betting
Super League Grand Finals are generally tight affairs these days where the points come very much at a premium so I’m a little surprised that the point line for this match is as high as 32.5. A look through the recent history at Old Trafford and the year where the competition concluded in Hull would tell us that eight of the last 10 Grand Finals have gone under this total and with the quality of the Wigan Warriors defence I don’t expect much different here.
Hull KR have kept their opposition to a single point total in six of their last nine matches which includes Warrington twice, Catalans and St Helens in that run so they are not going to be opened up at will. The other reason to like the under is the Hull KR goal kicking has been a mess all season and what few tries we might get are nothing like guaranteed to be converted into six points. Both teams are going to give everything they have got and defend for their lives here and that should keep the total below 32.5 points.
Tips
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