Super League Grand Final

The Super League Grand Final is the championship-deciding game of rugby league's Super League competition.[1] It is played between two teams who have qualified via the Super League Play-Off series.[2] The winning team receives the Super League Trophy and goes on to play the NRL champions in the World Club Challenge. The Harry Sunderland Trophy is awarded to the man of the match. The match is normally played at Old Trafford in Greater Manchester.

Super League Grand Final
Super League Trophy
LocationEngland Trafford, Manchester
Teams2
First meeting1998
Latest meeting2023
Next meeting2024
BroadcastersSky Sports
BBC
StadiumsOld Trafford
Statistics
Meetings total24
Most wins St Helens (9)
Most player appearancesEngland Jamie Peacock
England James Roby (11)

Only four clubs have won the Super League, as of 2023 - St Helens (9), Leeds Rhinos (8), Wigan Warriors (6), and Bradford Bulls (4).

(St Helens and Bradford Bulls each won one of their Super League titles before the Play Off and Grand Final system was introduced in 1998).

Wigan Warriors are the current champions, after winning the 2023 Super League Grand Final, defeating Catalans Dragons 10–2, who also become the first ever team to have 2 or more players sin binned in the grand final.

Background
See also: Rugby Football League Championship

Use of a play-off system to decide the Championship brought back a rugby league tradition that had fallen out of use in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. The Premiership replaced the Championship final but it was to decide the Premiership winners, not the Championship winners. The Premiership was discontinued after the introduction of the Super League play-off series in 1998, ending with the Super League Grand Final. The inaugural Grand Final match was played that year on Saturday 24 October, between Wigan and Leeds.

Venue
Leeds celebrating their 2008 Grand Final victory at Old Trafford
Main article: Old Trafford

The Grand Final has been held at Old Trafford in Manchester every year since 1998, except in 2020, when it was held at the KCOM Stadium in Hull due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

City Stadium Years
England ManchesterOld Trafford1998–2019, 2021–
England HullKCOM Stadium2020

Trophy

The winners of the Super League collect the Grand Final rings and the team's name, captain and year are engraved into the trophy. The winners also collect £100,000 with the runner up collecting £50,000.

Leeds captain Kevin Sinfield currently holds the record for captaining the most Super League title winning sides after leading Leeds to seven of their Grand Final successes. St Helens contested the final six years in a row (from 2006 until 2011) during which time they succeeded only once in lifting the trophy, against Hull F.C. in 2006, after which they suffered consecutive defeats against Leeds in 2007, 2008, 2009, Wigan in 2010 and Leeds once again in 2011.

Awards
Main article: Harry Sunderland Trophy

The Harry Sunderland Trophy is awarded to the Man-of-the-Match in the Super League Grand Final by the Rugby League Writers' Association. Named after Harry Sunderland, who was an Australian rugby league football administrator in both Australia and the United Kingdom, the Trophy was first awarded in the Rugby Football League Championship Final of the 1964–65 season following Sunderland's death.

Finals
See also: League Leaders' Shield

The Super League Grand Final has been the championship-deciding game since Super League III in 1998:[3] This final is held at Old Trafford.

Year Winners Score Runner-up Attendance
1998 Wigan 10–4 Leeds 43,533
1999 St Helens 8–6 Bradford Increase 50,717
2000 St Helens 29–16 Wigan Increase 58,132
2001 Bradford 37–6 Wigan Increase 60,164
2002 St Helens 19–18 Bradford Increase 61,138
2003 Bradford 25–12 Wigan Increase 65,537
2004 Leeds 16–8 Bradford Increase 65,547
2005 Bradford 15–6 Leeds Increase 65,728
2006 St Helens 26–4 Hull Increase 72,575
2007 Leeds 33–6 St Helens Decrease 71,352
2008 Leeds 24–16 St Helens Decrease 68,810
2009 Leeds 18–10 St Helens Decrease 63,259
2010 Wigan 22–10 St Helens Increase 71,526
2011 Leeds 32–16 St Helens Decrease 69,107
2012 Leeds 26–18 Warrington Increase 70,676
2013 Wigan 30–16 Warrington Decrease 66,281
2014 St Helens 14–6 Wigan Increase 70,102
2015 Leeds 22–20 Wigan Increase 73,512
2016 Wigan 12–6 Warrington Decrease 70,202
2017 Leeds 24–6 Castleford Increase 72,827
2018 Wigan 12–4 Warrington Decrease 64,892
2019 St Helens 23–6 Salford Decrease 64,102
2020 St Helens 8–4 Wigan N/A
2021 St Helens 12–10 Catalans Decrease 45,177
2022 St Helens 24–12 Leeds Increase 60,783
2023 Wigan 10–2 Catalans Decrease 58,137

Results
Grand Final winners and runners up
Club Winners Runners-up Years won Years runner-up
St Helens 9 5 1999, 2000, 2002, 2006, 2014, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011
Leeds Rhinos 8 3 2004, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2017 1998, 2005, 2022
Wigan Warriors 6 6 1998, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2018, 2023 2000, 2001, 2003, 2014, 2015, 2020
Bradford Bulls 3 3 2001, 2003, 2005 1999, 2002, 2004
Warrington Wolves 0 4 2012, 2013, 2016, 2018
Catalans Dragons 0 2 2021, 2023
Hull F.C. 0 1 2006
Castleford Tigers 0 1 2017
Salford Red Devils 0 1 2019

The Double
Main article: The Double (rugby league)

In rugby league, the term 'the Double' is referring to the achievement of a club that wins the top division and Challenge Cup in the same season. To date, this has been achieved by ten clubs, four of them during the Super League era.

Club Wins Winning years
1 Wigan71989–90, 1990–91, 1991–92, 1992–93,
1993–94, 1994–95, 2013
2 St Helens41965–66, 1996, 2006, 2021
3 Huddersfield21912–13, 1914–15
4 Broughton Rangers11901–02
5 Halifax11902–03
6 Hunslet11907–08
7 Swinton11927–28
8 Warrington11953–54
9 Bradford12003
10 Leeds12015

The Treble
Main article: The Treble (rugby league)

The Treble refers to the team who wins all three domestic honours on offer during the season; Grand Final, League Leaders' Shield and Challenge Cup. To date seven teams have won the treble, only Bradford Bulls, St Helens and Leeds Rhinos have won the treble in the Super League era.

Club Wins Winning years
1 Wigan31991–92, 1992–93, 1994–95
2 Huddersfield21912–13, 1914–15
3 St Helens21965–66, 2006
4 Hunslet11907–08
5 Swinton11927–28
6 Bradford12003
7 Leeds12015

The Quadruple
Main article: The Treble (rugby league) § Further Achievement

The Quadruple refers to winning the Super League, League Leaders' Shield, Challenge Cup and World Club Challenge in one season.

Club Wins Winning years
1 Wigan11994–95
2 Bradford12003–04
3 St Helens12006–07

Headliners
Year Act
1998–2003none
2004Heather Small
2005Madness
2006Deacon Blue
2007The Kaiser Chiefs
2008Scouting for Girls
2009The Wombats
2010Diana Vickers
2011Feeder*
2012–2013none
2014James
2015The Charlatans
2016Feeder
2017Razorlight
2018 Blossoms
2019 Shed Seven
2020–2022none
2023 Reverend and the Makers
  • 2011- Feeder were cancelled due to Manchester United not wanting a stage to be erected on the wet pitch

Records

Match records
  • Largest margin of victory:
31 points - Bradford 37-6 Wigan (2001)
  • Smallest margin of victory:
1 point - St Helens 19-18 Bradford (2002)
  • Highest scoring:
48 points - Leeds 32-16 St Helens (2011)
  • Lowest scoring:
12 points - St Helens 8-4 Wigan (2020), Wigan 10-2 Catalans (2023)
  • Highest attendance:
73,512 Leeds v Wigan (at Old Trafford, 2015)

Club records
  • Most Grand Final victories:
10 - St. Helens (,1999 Super League Grand Final 1996, 2000, 2002, 2006, 2014, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022)
  • Most consecutive Grand Final victories:
4 - St. Helens (2019, 2020, 2021, 2022)
  • Most Grand Final appearances:
14 - St Helens (1999, 2000, 2002, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2014, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022)
  • Most Grand Final defeats:
6 - Wigan (2000, 2001, 2003, 2014, 2015, 2020)
  • Most Grand Final defeats (without victory):
4 - Warrington Wolves (2012, 2013, 2016, 2018)

Player records
  • Most Grand Final appearances:
  • 11:
Jamie Peacock (2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2015)
James Roby (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2014, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022)


  • Most Grand Final victories:
  • 9:
Jamie Peacock (2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2015)
  • Most Grand Final appearances as captain:
  • 8:
Kevin Sinfield (2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2015)
  • Youngest finalist:
  • Youngest winner:
  • Oldest finalist:
  • Oldest winner:

See also

References
  1. "Grand Final - Super League". superleague.co.uk. Archived from the original on 5 September 2013. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  2. "The Play-Off Series - Super League". superleague.co.uk. Archived from the original on 5 September 2013. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  3. "Winners - Super League". superleague.co.uk. Archived from the original on 5 September 2013. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Super League Grand Final.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.