By The Barest Of Margins - Saints 8 Wigan Warriors 4 - Grand Final Review

Once in a while sport throws up moments that just can’t be explained. Michael Thomas’ second goal for Arsenal at Anfield in 1989, say. Or - if you prefer - Sergio Aguerooooooooo’s 2012 title-decider for Manchester City against Queens Park Rangers. Or in cricket how about Shane Warne’s Ball Of The Century to Mike Gatting at Old Trafford in the 1993 Ashes series? Or England’s 2019 World Cup win ‘by the barest of margins’ following a Champagne Super Over against New Zealand in the final? In athletics your mind wanders to Usain Bolt slowing down while still setting a world record mark of 9.58 seconds in the Olympic 100 metres final in Beijing in 2008.

You may only feel such excitement about rugby league. Within those parameters there is Don Fox’s missed conversion in the 1968 ‘Watersplash’ Challenge Cup Final - memorable for all the wrong reasons as it snatched defeat from the jaws of victory for Wakefield Trinity against Leeds. Or Chris Joynt’s ‘Wide To West’ game-winning try in Saints 2000 playoff victory over Bradford Bulls at Knowsley Road. These  are moments when all logic leaves the scene and something miraculous takes place. They are extremely rare. At the same time the possibility of witnessing such a moment is always there. It’s one of the major reasons why we love sport and in particular rugby league. 

The 2020 Super League season was never going to be one that would be easy to forget. Yet until Jack Welsby’s post-hooter, Grand Final-winning try left Saints bitterest rivals vanquished the campaign had been memorable for what had gone wrong. The Covid-19 pandemic has affected every facet of our lives this year and rugby league has been hit particularly hard. Leagues below the elite competition did not restart after the March lockdown, largely due to the economic difficulties of the ban on fans inside grounds and the regular testing that would have been required. 

Super League soldiered on, but it was an utter mess at times. Fixtures were changed at a few days notice as squads were hit by Covid outbreaks and forced to isolate in numbers. Win percentage was introduced to decide league positions as it became clear that some clubs would not complete the same number of fixtures as others. Eventually the regular season was abruptly curtailed and the playoffs expanded to accommodate six teams instead of the four that had been agreed ahead of the August restart. The league even made a contingency plan to reinstate teams that had been eliminated should any qualified teams subsequently be unable to fulfil a playoff fixture due to Covid issues. Mercifully that never came to pass but the damage to the integrity of the competition remained significant.

As much as it could be determined Super League’s two best teams had still managed to make it through to the Grand Final. Saints had put together a run of 10 straight league wins after the resumption until an increasingly packed schedule persuaded coach Kristian Woolf to select a youthful side at Salford. They fell to a narrow defeat and - without the suspended Alex Walmsley - Saints went down 18-6 to Wigan in their next game to hand the initiative to Adrian Lam’s side in the race for the League Leaders Shield. It proved exactly the wrong moment to make a miss-step. 

Saints declined to travel to France to face Catalans Dragons in their next fixture as the Covid infection rate climbed and politicians talked of a second lockdown. Hull KR declared their season over with three matches still scheduled. Salford cited injuries caused by the increased workload as a reason for calling off their meeting with Warrington Wolves and were subsequently forced to forfeit the game. Rather than hit the pause button for a second time the league decided to halt the regular season early and start the playoff series ahead of schedule. That left Wigan needing only to beat Huddersfield Giants in what would now be their final league game to secure the League Leaders Shield. They duly did so, denying Saints what would have been a third consecutive League Leaders Shield.  Instead Saints finished runners up before they and Wigan cruised to semi-final victories over the Dragons and Hull FC respectively. The top two would meet for the title.

So that’s how we got to the fourth Grand Final between Saints and Wigan. The 23rd Grand Final since the event was introduced in 1998.  It was unquestionably the most dramatic denouement to any Grand Final. This is how Renton from Trainspotting felt when Archie Gemmil scored in 1978.  Sean Long’s 2002 drop goal winner against Bradford Bulls was unforgettable but even that could not match the ludicrous, bewildering and joyous way that the 2020 season reached its conclusion. If those in charge of promoting the game don’t use clips of Welsby’s last-gasp intervention to sell the sport to the uninitiated they should all be relieved of their duties. By the way, did I mention that it is 3-1 to Saints in Grand Finals against Wigan now?

This was the first Super League Grand Final to be played away from Manchester United’s Old Trafford stadium. The more modest KC Stadium in Hull was selected as an alternative. Given that, and the fact that there were still no fans permitted inside the stadium the level of commitment, intensity and sheer effort on show from both sides was breathtaking. Despite everything that had gone before in 2020 this was a Grand Final between two desperate teams to whom victory meant every bit as much - maybe more - than it would have done ordinarily. It wasn’t pretty at times but it will live long in the memory of every Saints fan. No doubt it will haunt those of a Wigan persuasion too. Lam appeared visibly distressed in his post game interview having seen Welsby latch on to the rebound from Tommy Makinson’s longe range drop-goal attempt to score the try that broke a 4-4 tie. In doing so he may have also helped break Lam’s heart but he spared the rest of us the agony of a period of golden point extra time.

Barely a minute before that I and I’m sure many other Saints fans would have bitten your hand off for that extra period. Theo Fages had been penalised at the ruck by referee Chris Kendall just moments after Dominique Peyroux had been pinged for a set restart. The penalty was 45 metres out from the Saints posts but in a fairly central position. When the penalty was awarded I wondered whether Wigan might kick for touch and try to work the ball closer to the posts for a drop goal attempt. With the clock running down that is all they would have needed in all likelihood to complete a 5-4 win and evoke memories of their 1993 Lancashire Cup final win over Saints by that scoreline.

On the other hand the decision to kick for goal was understandable. All Zak Hardaker had to do was keep his aim straight, get enough power on it and the title would surely be Wigan’s. In the event he pushed it wide and a little short, from where Jonny Lomax ran it back with interest to start the set that would culminate in Welsby’s miracle play.  As the hooter sounded Makinson received the ball and launched a drop goal attempt. He’d landed one under somewhat less pressure but with a dislocated shoulder in last year’s Grand Final win over Salford. His 2020 vintage was no mean effort despite the sweat-inducing circumstances.  It cannoned off the upright, bouncing away from Wigan fullback Bevan French and tantalisingly towards Welsby. The youngster then etched himself into Saints folklore by grounding the ball just inside the dead ball line as French floundered and Wigan bodies crumpled in despair all around. 

It was checked by the video referee. Of course it was checked. Isn’t everything these days unless you are Robert Hicks? Firstly to determine whether Welsby had been stood in front of Makinson when he struck his drop goal attempt - and therefore offside - and then to make sure Welsby had not touched the dead ball line before grounding the ball.  It was tight. So tight that it was almost impossible to tell given the camera angles. Crucially, Kendall had sent it up for review as a try, seemingly happy that Welsby was onside. That made all the difference. Just as there had been insufficient evidence to overturn Kendall’s decision to call back Zeb Taia’s earlier effort for offside from a James Roby kick which ricocheted into the in-goal off Thomas Leuluai, so the video referee had no option but to stand by the on-field referee’s original call on Welsby’s try. Cue 17 kinds of delirium on the field among the Saints players and in thousands of living rooms from Haydock to Haresfinch. Few of us noticed that Lachlan Coote hadn’t even bothered to attempt the conversion which could have turned an 8-4 scoreline into a 10-4 scoreline. Only spread betters could have had the slightest interest. Time had long since expired. Saints had retained their crown. 

Analysis almost feels like something for another day given the circumstances, but when the dust settles Woolf will know his side can and must improve for 2021. Though not as conservative as during that 18-6 defeat to the Warriors on October 30 Saints still lacked the guile and creativity to make this a more comfortable evening despite enjoying the bulk of the possession and territory. Fages continually takes wrong options while his kicking game and that of Coote remains too predictable. Fages should be seriously challenged for his place by Lewis Dodd in 2021.

Most of the heroes could be found doing their best work in defence. The top-knotted nuisance that is James Bentley was relentless in making an absurd 69 tackles. Roby carried off a second Harry Sunderland Trophy for man of the match to add to the one he won last time Saints got the better of Wigan in a Grand Final six years ago. He made 56 tackles and was at the centre of everything Saints did in attack as they piled the pressure on a stubborn and steely Wigan defence. Lomax was kept relatively in check by the Warriors though such was the stand-off’s appetite for work that he still racked up 198 metres with ball in hand without ever really looking like breaking through.   

Saints defence was equally solid for the most part but it did crack once.  Leuluai, Jackson Hastings and French combined to send Jake Bibby over with just 15 minutes remaining. That gave Wigan a 4-2 lead which in such a low scoring game threatened to be decisive. The only points before that had come from the boot of Coote on the stroke of half-time. He converted a penalty after Morgan Smithies got into character with a late shoulder charge. It was not the only cheap shot of the first half. Leuluai was not even penalised for launching himself at James Graham’s ribs despite the fact that the retiring Saints prop did not have possession of the ball at the time. It has long been the Wigan Way to hit on suspicion. Mystifyingly, even the video referee saw nothing wrong with the shot which took Graham some time to recover from. He would be the one smiling at the end.

Walmsley’s questionable fitness was another big problem for Saints. It has since transpired that he had damaged knee ligaments in the semi final win over Catalans and now requires surgery. That is not surprising remembering the pictures of him hobbling out of the action last week but it is understandable if Woolf did not want to reveal any doubts about Walmsley before the game. That would have given Wigan a boost which could have proved very useful. However you just hope that no risks were taken with Walmsley’s long term health and fitness. He will now undergo surgery to correct the problem with a view to returning for pre-season in the new year.

Credit must go to Matty Lees, Kyle Amor and Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook for filling in solidly for the two big guns up front when required. Wigan are a very physical side and it would have been easy to fold during the spells when Graham and/or Walmsley were off the field. Instead, but for the lapse which allowed Bibby to cross Saints only defensive vulnerability was on their right edge where Kevin Naiqama repeatedly shot out of the line to leave space which Oliver Gildart almost exploited. On one such occasion in the first half it took four Saints defenders to somehow prevent Hardaker from grounding the ball. 

As well as Graham both Taia and Peyroux were playing their final games for Saints as Woolf starts the job of shaping his own squad. Joel Thompson and Sione Mata’utia are coming in from Manly Sea Eagles and Newcastle Knights respectively to replace the second row pairing of the Justin Holbrook era, while Agnatius Paasi arrives from New Zealand Warriors to fill Luke Thompson’s position which has been kept warm by Graham in 2020. After seven losing Grand Finals in his career - five with Saints before his eight-year NRL spell - it was a delight to see Graham finish his playing days on this incredible high. It was clear from his post-game interview how much it meant to him. He was one of the few Saints players to manage to avoid an f-bomb as the giddy excitement started to take effect. Well, it was well after the watershed. Who could begrudge them outside Wigan?

Saints claimed a record-equalling eighth Super League crown and a seventh Grand Final victory, the first title having arrived via the first past the post system still in operation in Super League’s inaugural year of 1996.  We must now wait until March 11 2021 for our Super League fix. Saints fans...keep this one on your planner and use it to get you through the winter. In a world where not much feels right at present it’s reassuring to know that Saints are still top dog.