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]

Super League Grand Final
Locale Manchester
Teams2
First meeting1998
Latest meeting2019
Next meeting2020
BroadcastersSky Sports
BBC
StadiumsOld Trafford
Statistics
Meetings total22
Most wins Leeds Rhinos (8 titles)
Most player appearances Jamie Peacock (11 appearances)

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 in the Grand Final.

St. Helens are the current champions, after winning the 2019 Grand Final.

Only 4 clubs have won the Grand Final, as of 2019 - Leeds Rhinos (8 times), St. Helens (6), Wigan Warriors (5), and Bradford Bulls (3)

History

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 Super League 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.

The Super League Grand Final was introduced for the 1998 season. The inaugural Grand Final match was played that year on Saturday 24 October, between Wigan and Leeds. The venue of every Super League Grand Final to date has been Old Trafford, Manchester.[3]

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

The Grand Final is, and has been held at Old Trafford, Manchester since it's inaugural edition in 1998. Old Trafford the largest capacity stadium in the North of England, and the third largest stadium in the UK.

Qualification for World Club Challenge

The winners of the Grand Final qualify to play the winners of the National Rugby League in the World Club Challenge. During its time as the World Club Series (2015–17), The Grand Final Runners-up would qualifying if the Grand Final champions also won the League Leaders' Shield.

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.

The record for most Super League titles won is held by Leeds with eight titles. Leeds captain Kevin Sinfield currently holds the record for captaining the most Super League title winning sides after captaining Leeds to 7 of their grand final successes. St. Helens contested the final 6 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:[4] These final were held at Old Trafford.

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

Results
Grand Final winners and runners up
Club Winners Runners-up Years won Years runner-up
Leeds Rhinos 8 2 2004, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2017 1998, 2005
St. Helens 6 5 1999, 2000, 2002, 2006, 2014, 2019 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011
Wigan Warriors 5 5 1998, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2018 2000, 2001, 2003, 2014, 2015
Bradford Bulls 3 3 2001, 2003, 2005 1999, 2002, 2004
Warrington Wolves 0 4 2012, 2013, 2016, 2018
Hull F.C. 0 1 2006
Castleford 0 1 2017
Salford 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 a total ten different clubs but by only four different clubs 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. Helens31965–66, 1996, 2006
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

All Four Cups
Main article: All Four Cups

Winning all Four Cups refers to winning the Super League, League Leaders' Shield, Challenge Cup and World Club Challenge in one season. Not all of these cups were available in the past but have replaced other cups that could be won.

Club Wins Winning years
1 Hunslet11907–08
2 Huddersfield11914–15
3 Swinton11927–28
4 Wigan11994–95
5 Bradford12003–04
6 St. Helens12006–07

Pre match 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
  • 2011- Feeder were cancelled due to Manchester United not wanting a stage to be erected on the wet pitch

Records

Club Records
  • Biggest win:
Bradford 37-6 Wigan (at Old Trafford, 2001)
  • Highest all-time attendance:
73,512 Leeds v Wigan (at Old Trafford, 2015)

Player Records
  • Most Grand Final appearances:
  • 11:
Jamie Peacock (2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 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 (and winner):
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See also

References
  3. Rugby League Tickets Archived 20 December 2015 at the Wayback Machine
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