Ranking the 7 most dramatic Super League Grand Final moments ever including tries, tackles and CHAOS

Ben Olawumi
Leeds Rhinos, Ben Flower sending off, Jack Welsby winner for St Helens

From left to right: Leeds Rhinos celebrate THAT Rob Burrow try at Old Trafford in 2011, Wigan Warriors' Ben Flower trudges off following his dismissal in 2014 and St Helens celebrate Jack Welsby's winning try in the 2020 Super League Grand Final

Wigan Warriors and Hull KR will contest the 27th Super League Grand Final when they step out at Old Trafford on Saturday evening, and it’s likely to be an action-packed affair.

Coaches Matt Peet and Willie Peters will, of course, hope to avoid any drama – but it feels like it always creeps in on occasions like this.

We’ve seen some memorable moments in the competition’s showpiece over the years, with all bar one of the previous 26 being held at the Theatre of Dreams and the other coming at Hull FC’s MKM Stadium behind closed doors during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Wigan will hope to win the Super League title for a seventh time on Saturday night, with this their 13th involvement in the Grand Final.

KR meanwhile are in the Grand Final for the first time ever, and go in search of a history-making first major honour since 1985.

Below, we’ve taken a look at – and ranked – the seven most dramatic Grand Final moments to date.

If there are any you think we’ve missed, let us know!

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7. Henry Paul’s try – 1999

Bradford Bulls’ first Grand Final in 1999 ultimately ended in an 8-6 defeat to St Helens, but the opening try of the night was a wonderful one.

Receiving the ball in his own half from a scrum, Kiwi international Henry sidestepped Sonny Nickle and charged downfield, losing a boot in the process. Losing that boot slowed him down, and Nickle caught him close to the line, but Paul’s momentum carried him over to put the first points of the evening on the board.

6. Tommy Makinson’s yellow card – 2021

Having lost out on the League Leaders’ Shield to Catalans just a few weeks earlier, St Helens beat the Dragons 12-10 at Old Trafford in 2021 to pick up a third consecutive Super League title.

The triumph came in testing circumstances though, with veteran winger Tommy Makinson becoming the first-ever player to be sin-binned in a Super League Grand Final early on in the second half, spending 10 minutes off the field having caught Fouad Yaha with a high shot as the Dragons man went to ground the ball.

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5. Video referee controversy – 2015

Leeds Rhinos‘ legends bowed out of the game in style in 2015, wrapping up a historic treble with a 22-20 victory against Wigan in the Grand Final. That triumph involved some drama in the shape of refereeing controversy.

In the build up to the try which put Leeds ahead for the first time on the night just before the half-hour mark, half-back Danny McGuire appeared to lose the ball and some players stopped expecting a knock on to be given.

Zak Hardaker though picked it up and teed Joel Moon up to ground the ball, with referee Ben Thaler controversially sending it upstairs as a try. A check of close to three minutes followed, with the video refereeing team unable to find the ‘conclusive’ evidence they needed to overturn the on-field call, so a try was awarded.

4. Chris Joynt’s ‘voluntary tackle’ – 2002

There had been also been some drama concerning the match officials 13 years earlier at the Theatre of Dreams as St Helens beat Bradford Bulls 19-18 to seal the Super League title.

After Sean Long’s drop goal late on, which proved to be decisive, Bradford went for a short kick-off which Saints won back. Chris Joynt though scooped the ball up and went to ground in a potential ‘voluntary tackle’.

Bulls players appealed to referee Russell Smith for a penalty on the back of that offence, but nothing came of it – leaving those from West Yorkshire furious.

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3. THAT Rob Burrow try – 2011

If you think you’ll ever see a better try than this in a Grand Final, think again. You’d be hard-pushed to find a better one anywhere, to be completely honest.

Late, great Leeds legend Burrow inspired the Rhinos to a 32-16 triumph against Saints at Old Trafford in 2011 with a man-of-the-match display, and this try was THE moment of the night.

33 minutes in, the half-back took the ball on the halfway line, dipped underneath the first tackle which came his way and went on a weaving 50-metre-plus run past four more defenders to dive over under the sticks. Just sensational.

2. Ben Flower’s red card – 2014

‘We’ve worked our b*llocks off all year for this, lads, nothing silly’. We’re not entirely sure, but we can guarantee something similar to that gets said before any big final, especially the Grand Final. Well, if someone did say those words in Wigan’s dressing room at Old Trafford in 2014, Ben Flower didn’t hear them.

The prop walked back down the tunnel with less than two minutes played after punching Saints ace Lance Hohaia, and delivering a further blow while the Kiwi international was on the floor.

Flower is the first, and to date only, player ever sent off in a Super League Grand Final. Wigan went on to lose that showpiece 14-6 against their bitter rivals.

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1. Saints win it on the hooter – 2020

We noted in the intro to this ranking that one Grand Final was held away from Old Trafford, and it was this one. No fans were allowed into the MKM Stadium for the 2020 showdown between Saints and Wigan, and it’s a crying shame, because we were served up a moment you’re unlikely to ever see again.

With the scores locked at 4-4, Wigan had just missed a long-range conversion attempt from a penalty, and Saints winger Makinson attempted a drop goal from range as the final hooter sounded.

That drop goal attempt struck the post, and then-teenager Jack Welsby took advantage of a bounce to burst past Warriors ace Bevan French and ground the ball for a try!

A video referee check quickly confirmed he’d got the ball down before it – or he – went out the field of play and scenes of jubilation were sparked for everyone of a Saints persuasion.

The greatest ending to a Grand Final ever, and the most dramatic you’re ever likely to see. Simply astonishing. 8-4 it ended, with nobody bothering to convert, not that we blame them!

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