Was it ever really in doubt? Well, yes actually.
We’ll come to the details, but for now let’s just reflect that this win completed a run of three Super League titles in a row for Saints, a feat matched only once before in the summer era by the Leeds Rhinos of 2007-09. It was Saints eighth Grand Final win - matching Leeds there also - but going one better in terms of Super League crowns by virtue of their first past the post title win of the inaugural summer season in 1996. Saints are now indisputably the most successful club since the advent of full time professionalism 25 years ago.
A dominant semi-final win over Leeds last time out was enough to convince Saints boss Kristian Woolf to keep faith with exactly the same 17 men for this one. That meant a start at stand-off for Jonny Lomax while 2020 Grand Final hero Jack Welsby awaited his chance from the bench. It also saw Matty Lees preferred to Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook from the start. There was no place for the now retired Joel Thompson who was kept out of the side by Joe Batchelor.
The Dragons main selection dilemma centred around Sam Tomkins. The newly crowned Steve Prescott Man Of Steel had not played since hopping out of the defeat by his old Wigan team-mates on September 17. Well, who else do you expect would have nobbled him? Regardless of his inactivity Tomkins was cleared to play with Dragons coach Steve McNamara insisting there was no great risk involved. It meant that the Dragons Wigan Tribute Act included all its members, with Tom Davies, Gil Dudson, Mickey McIlorum and Sam’s brother Joel all in the 17.
With fans back after last year’s hiatus there was a little more significance to the pre-game pomp and ceremony. The powers that be could not stretch to hiring a band but they did have a singer for Jerusalem. The trophy was walked on to the field for its first photo opportunity of the evening by former Wigan, Huddersfield, Widnes, Warrington, Salford and England schemer Kevin Brown. He recently announced his retirement at the end of the current campaign. Despite making over 370 appearances in an 18-year career this was probably the closest he has ever been to the Super League trophy. Which is what happens when you go to Warrington to win things.
Though it was the kind of low scoring affair which greatly underwhelms me the difference between this Grand Final and last year’s one trick pony was the presence of consistent drama and no little controversy. Since the final hooter debate has raged on a number of calls made by referee Liam Moore and video review official James Child. Some of this debate has of course been the over emotional wittering of blatantly biased fans of all persuasions. If you weren’t for Saints then it seemed you were rabidly against them. When a team is successful for as long as Saints have been it breeds resentment. It’s why I dislike Wigan more than any other club. Added to that was the more reasonable assertion that a new name on the trophy - particularly that of a club from outside the north of England - would have been good for the game’s public image.
Though many will have predicted it before kick-off it wasn’t immediately obvious that points would be at such a premium once the game got under way. Saints made a fast start with Kevin Naiqama looking lively and Tommy Makinson held up over the line after only two minutes. Two minutes after that we had our first controversy. James Maloney - playing in his final game before Kevin Browning his way out of Super League - took exception to a challenge by Sione Mata’utia after the Australian playmaker sent a kick downfield.
A scuffle broke out, one that was totally ignored by Moore as he allowed play to continue. Had he been paying more attention he may have seen Mata’utia throw a right hand at the Dragons man. He may have also seen Maloney push a forearm into the throat of the Saints second rower. In another era this sort of skirmish would have barely raised the eyebrow of an official but in the modern game it was extremely punishable. However McNamara’s assertion that Mata’utia should have been sent off seems flawed. Had Mata’utia punched Maloney with no physical provocation then there could have been a case. But where two players are guilty of getting physical it is more common to see both sent to the sin bin. Had Mata’utia gone then Maloney would have had to follow him. If Moore made a mistake here it was in letting both off the hook.
If Mata’utia had struck the first physical blow it was the Dragons who made the first impression on the scoreboard. Saints were controlling field possession until Lewis Dodd’s kick was charged down by Maloney. The Dragons player was first to the loose ball and in the subsequent set Batchelor strayed offside leaving Maloney with the relatively simple task of converting the penalty. The French side had not yet threatened the Saints line but were ahead 2-0.
Batchelor was penalised again shortly after but was arguably unfortunate. It appeared he’d done well to wrestle the ball out of Tomkins’ grasp but with both players claiming possession Moore penalised Batchelor as the ball squirted out. Yet these blemishes - and a further one in the second half when Batchelor broke down the right touchline only to find Sam Tomkins with his inside pass - do not tell the whole story of Batchelor’s performance. That burst was one of only three clean breaks for Saints in what was largely a defensive struggle. The former York man’s 89 metres on 10 carries - while hardly remarkable - was the third best among Saints forwards in terms of metres made. In addition only James Roby and Benjamin Garcia managed more than Batchelor’s 40 tackles on either side. Having seen off Thompson Batchelor will be challenged again for his starting slot next year by the arrival of Curtis Sironen from Manly and possibly by that of Konrad Hurrell if his much talked about move west from Leeds Rhinos comes to pass. Games don’t come any bigger than this one and Batchelor has proved that he is a player who can be relied upon as a viable starter irrespective of new additions.
The Dragons first real try scoring threat came when Davies was unable to reel in Sam Tomkins’ tip-on with the defence stretched. That served only to spark Saints back into life and it was Naiqama who claimed the game’s first four-pointer. Julian Bousquet was caught offside which set up the position from where James Roby, Lewis Dodd, Lomax and Lachlan Coote linked up to create the space for Naiqama to jink inside the cover to score. A posse of Dragons defenders converged on the Fijian as he crossed but he still managed to snake out an arm and just about ground the ball. It was his ninth try of the season and a just reward for his early enterprise. His night would get better if a little more painful. Coote could not convert but Saints had nudged ahead 4-2.
It’s almost a cliche to complain about Sky’s coverage of the game but shortly after Naiqama’s effort they found a new way to promote the grind. We were regaled with up-to-the-minute stats on the levels of intensity achieved by the players. I’m not sure intensity is quantifiable, but if it is then their revelation that the league leader in this field is Wigan plodder Joe Shorrocks should be a clue as to how much attention should be paid to it. Hyperbole around the performances of the likes of Shorrocks shows you exactly what is wrong with the game and its current grind culture. Intensity is a pre-requisite for success but is not by itself an indicator of quality. Somehow we have become conditioned to believe that it is. Apparently the faster the game is and the fewer errors there are the better, irrespective of imagination and skill. I just don’t get it.
Altogether more exciting was Saints next near miss soon after. Dodd kicked a loose ball ahead to allow Regan Grace to touch down but the whistle had already gone for a knock-on. The ball had cannoned off the arm of Mark Percival as he attempted to tackle Mike McMeeken right at the moment that the ex-Castleford man tried to take possession. Back came Catalans, with Samisoni Langi making inroads down the left channel after being released by Sam Tomkins. Langi had destroyed Saints at Newcastle a month ago, tearing away for 232 metres. He wasn’t quite as effective this time, managing over 100 fewer at 131 metres. Yet that still made him the highest metre maker for the Dragons on the night. Only Langi and Davies made it through the 100m barrier which is a testament to how well Saints defended. As for much of this season it was defence that won this game for Saints.
When Saints did try to open things up a little it didn’t always work out. Alex Walmsley squandered good field position with a wild offload on Saints next significant attack. It wasn’t particularly well executed but it was a refreshing diversion from Woolf’s safety first approach. It also led to two more points as Benjamin Garcia caught Lomax high. This was another talking point as Moore decided that the penalty was sufficient. In the referees defence the first contact was again with the shoulder but if strict liability is the modern way then he could arguably have walked. The decision set the tone. Moore was not going to be issuing yellow cards unless contact with the head was direct. With one notable exception as we’ll see. What was not in doubt is that it was a penalty which Coote slotted over to inch Saints out to a 6-2 lead.
Moore could have taken a dim view of Lees using Fouad Yaha’s face as a lever to get up off the ground soon after. Lees contributed 29 tackles to Saints’ defensive effort but I’d argue that a starting prop should be offering more than 50 metres on eight carries. It’s not only Lees at fault here but there is far too much reliance on Walmsley and subsequently the outside backs to get Saints down the field. Kyle Amor was in the 17 but did not emerge from the bench at all.
With attacking production limited it becomes even more important that the likes of Lees keep their discipline. Saints didn’t pay too much for the prop forward’s indiscretion as Sam Kasiano knocked on deep in Saints territory after being hit hard by a combination of Walmsley and Morgan Knowles. Yet Knowles had to come to Saints aid again almost immediately. Percival spilled the ball on the first tackle and it was worked out to Yaha’s wing for what looked like a great try-scoring opportunity. But as the league’s joint top try-scorer accelerated towards the line he was hammered by Knowles. There was a sense that Langi had fed his winger too early and given Knowles an opportunity, but you still have to get there. If you get there you still have to find a way of halting one of Super League’s biggest and most prolific wingers. Knowles came up with the answer. It was the kind of extra effort that made the difference between winning and losing this title. It really was that big.
The Dragons could not get four points from that opportunity but they did manage two. Grace got his hand to the ball as the French side pressed near the Saints line which gave the Dragons a fresh set to launch another wave of attack. Possibly a little gassed at this point Saints strayed offside underneath the sticks to give Maloney another simple opportunity. He was on target and the Saints lead was back to only two at 6-4.
The hits got bigger and their legality more marginal. First Tommy Makinson flew in at Davies with just enough of a token arm-wrapping action to avoid conceding a penalty or worse, before McCarthy-Scarsbrook’s reputation for over enthusiasm - some would say recklessness - went before him as he chased another towering Coote bomb. Sam Tomkins was always getting there first - a fact which McCarthy-Scarsbrook seemed to acknowledge as he began to pull out of the challenge. The Londoner successfully avoided hitting Tomkins in the air but was penalised anyway as a trailing leg upended the Dragons fullback. The incident provoked more animosity as Kasiano took exception to McCarthy-Scarsbrook’s approach but it was an over reaction from the Dream Team prop. Again clearly reluctant to wave cards around in a Grand Final Moore simply gave the penalty against the Saints prop and asked everybody to get on with it.
There was a scrappy period before half time. Welsby knocked on with his first touch after coming off the bench in place of Knowles and then Joel Tomkins handed the initiative right back when he couldn’t handle Kasiano’s short ball. Kasiano then tested the patience of Moore when he went high on Roby as the Saints skipper made a half break. Despite the cries of barm-pot Sky Sports cheerleader Barrie McDermott to ‘play on’ Moore made the correct decision in penalising the Dragons front rower. Whether Saints made the right decision from the subsequent penalty is debatable, although all is well that ends well. It looked well within Coote’s goal-kicking range but Saints chose instead to kick for touch and launch one more assault on the Catalans line. That raid ended with Grace bundled into touch over on the left in the last significant action of the opening half.
In the opening moments of the second half we were introduced to some novel concepts. First there was the Batchelor touch-finder after the ex-York man somehow found himself in possession on the last (executed pretty well as it happens) and then we had some controversy which didn’t centre around whether somebody had hit somebody else in the head. There wasn’t much doubt that Mata’utia had caught Davies high but it was from the resultant penalty that the officiating got a bit erratic. Maloney’s penalty was batted back into play by Coote in acrobatic style. It looked a fantastic play but replays showed that the Saints fullback had got away with one on his last appearance for the club. He clearly had a foot grounded in touch before he made contact with the ball to prevent it finding touch. Nevertheless it was an extra effort that was rewarded - albeit fortuitously - on a night when doing that little bit extra paid big dividends.
Percival joined the list of high shooters when his attempted tackle on McMeeken went slightly awry. Again first contact was with the shoulder and so again Moore chose not to take any further action. The penalty set up the position from where Maloney almost broke through but he was dragged to the ground by the collective efforts of Dodd and Coote. Saints were still under pressure though when Josh Drinkwater’s kick bounced off a Saints defender and was picked up by Joel Tomkins. Saints stood firm until the end of the set when another Drinkwater lob headed towards the left corner and was gathered by the chasing Yaha. Crucially as it transpired, he started to lose his balance and fall to the ground moments before Makinson’s desperate lunge bounced off Yaha’s shoulder, onto his head and forced him into touch. Both players ended up laid out in a scene reminiscent of the end of Rocky II (spoiler alert - the one he wins). Dragons owner, chairman and gum-flapper Bernard Gausch has joined McNamara in claiming that this should have been a penalty try. If I agreed with Guasch - as I did Eamon McManus regarding the Knowles no try at Wembley in 2019 - I would still take the view that it is classless to be sounding off like a tired and emotional fan. In the event Guasch is just plain wrong on this one.
The referee needs to be certain that a try would have been scored were it not for the foul. That cannot be the case with Yaha already falling and with two or three metres still to cover. I haven’t got a huge problem with Moore’s decision to sin-bin Makinson but there is an argument that he could have escaped even that fate. In the end I think what differentiated it from the several other off-the-shoulder high shots was Makinson’s thinking time and his outright desperation. In that sense it was fairly reckless. It was not an instinctive grab or an accidental collision. This was ‘I can’t let you score whatever it takes’. A yellow seemed a reasonable enough outcome.
It didn’t take long for McNamara’s side to take advantage of their numerical position. Welsby had thwarted one raid with an intercept and a 35 metre foray down the field and Catalans were fortunate not to be penalised when McMeeken went suspiciously high on Mata’utia. Drinkwater’s kicking game was a growing influence and he again flipped the field position battle in the Dragons favour with a 40/20 which hit the whitewash before Coote could get over to it and knock it back into play. From there Drinkwater lobbed to the other side of the field where Grace could only get a slight touch ahead of Davies and the ball fell kindly for McMeeken to touch down. The try was confirmed on review and after Maloney landed a difficult conversion Saints were in a bit of a hole. A man light with Makinson in the bin and trailing 10-6 on the scoreboard.
I have to confess that at this point I was a tad concerned. Four points isn’t a massive lead but at the same time this is not a Saints team built for comebacks. How would they react if Catalans went two scores ahead? Woolf’s team have a style that is not conducive to having to take risks. Everything is a process and the plan is to never be in a position where you have to chase the game.
Fortunately Saints didn’t show signs of any doubts. They were comfortable until Makinson returned from his 10-minute interruption and now, with a full quota of 13, were in a much stronger position. That position was strengthened even further just before the hour mark when Walmsley was reintroduced following a period spent recharging the batteries. During that time Mikael Goudemand was perhaps fortunate that his stray knee into Coote as the Scottish international cleaned up another territorial punt was not the subject of more scrutiny from the officials. Other than that it was a period of relative inactivity until Batchelor found himself storming down the right hand touchline only for his pass inside intended for Makinson to instead find the grateful arms of Sam Tomkins. A little more composure was needed.
It would arrive, but not before McNamara played his wildcard and introduced Arthur Mourgue from the bench. His elusiveness and speed could have broken the game open, so it is to Saints credit that they held him to just eight metres on two carries. That defensive effort and all those that had gone before it were rewarded when Maloney hit Coote late giving Saints a chance to attack. Where their last opportunity lacked composure on this occasion it was that very quality which paid the bills. Lomax - whose presence in the starting 13 I have argued against in recent weeks - picked up possession close to the line. With everybody expecting a pass he instead executed the perfect dab in behind the Dragons defence. Naiqama had read the script, got the memo and the WhatsApp and was in the perfect position to scoop the ball up and touch down. He took a painful looking bang on the head from the knee of Yaha who as the old foul play euphemism goes got there as fast as he could.
Naiqama left the scene for an HIA and would not return despite being cleared. His last act as a Saint was to score his 39th try in his 77th appearance for the club. More pertinently it enabled Coote to nail the conversion and wrestle back the lead going into the final 10 minutes at 12-10. It seemed at this point like every other tackle was going high off the shoulder and it was McMeeken who was penalised next after erring while trying to bring down Walmsley. The knock may or not have clouded Walmsley’s thinking as he was then guilty of losing possession while trying to find an offload. This really wasn’t the time for it. Why were we doing this when two points up in the final 10 minutes of a Grand Final when we’ve spent the year grinding it out even when well ahead against weaker opposition? Pressure addles the mind.
On the subject of pressure Saints faced plenty of it during the final throes. First Drinkwater’s kick was flapped at by Makinson and shuttled dead by Welsby, then Percival had hearts in mouths when he juggled a Maloney bomb and was trapped in-goal for another dropout. That came to nothing for the Dragons when Sam Tomkins couldn’t take a pretty ropey old pass from Drinkwater whose handling failed to live up to the standards of his kicking at a crucial moment.
That gave Saints room to breathe and although Bousquet’s interference on Percival went unpunished there was a gift on the way. Coote sent a relieving punt down into Catalans territory where Davies succumbed to stress and fatigue and managed to fumble the ball into touch. Yet still Saints found a way to heighten anxiety for themselves and us fans as Makinson was penalised for running behind Walmsley while crabbing across the field looking for a gap. The Dragons still had a chance.
But if Davies’ drop had been an unexpected break what happened next was an even more decisive rub of the green. Sam Tomkins - the man whose participation or otherwise had been the big story coming in and who has so much history with Saints - executed a rather weary play-the-ball which was deemed incorrect by Moore. It was not a bad call in itself but when you consider that the ball has not been played correctly since the mid-80s and add that to the fact that barely two minutes remained at this point you might best describe it as ballsy. I recall a similar decision going against Salford in last year’s Challenge Cup final and feeling a good deal of outrage on their behalf. You just can’t call that at that point in the game. Yet rather than anger, I must confess that my over-riding emotion at this decision was relief.
There was still time for the Dragons to have one more possession. Drinkwater sent a lob out wide deep in his own territory towards Davies which reminded me of something Sean Long did in the build-up to the classic ‘Wide To West’ try in a playoff win over Bradford Bulls in 2000. A repeat of that now could not be contemplated. Mercifully, it did not materialise as Maloney received possession and instead of going into full hot potato mode decided to put a hopeful low kick into Saints half. It took a Saints hop over the sideline and into touch and the ordeal of the final 10 minutes was over. The threepeat was a reality.
Naiqama gave an emotional interview as he deservedly took man of the match honours. Gaining 147 metres on 17 carries is impressive enough but it was his two tries which proved decisive and for which he should always be fondly remembered. Opportunities were rare in this one - something which Woolf hinted at when he talked about his side not scoring enough points to put Catalans away earlier. More than anyone else on the night Naiqama was able to take advantage of his opportunities when they arrived. He leaves the club with three Grand Final rings from his three seasons. Not a bad little stint.
We can all go for a lie down now until it all starts again in a few months time. Four in a row has not been achieved by anybody in the Super League era. Nor has any club won 10 titles in the summer era. Some of the personnel at Saints is changing for 2022 but opportunities to make history remain.
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