Huddersfield Giants have the inside line on who’s the more likely between Leeds and Wigan to win tonight’s Super League Grand Final at Old Trafford.
Having hosted the Rhinos a fortnight ago and then having followed up with an encounter at Wigan a week later, head coach Paul Anderson’s men know exactly what the strengths and weaknesses of each side are.
And on the evidence of both games, there’s only going to be one winner – Wigan.
While Leeds needed a last-second Ryan Hall try to secure a 20-16 triumph over the Giants at the John Smith’s Stadium and claim the Super League Leaders Shield in the process, Wigan proved far too strong for Huddersfield from start to finish in last Thursday’s play-off semi-final at the DW Stadium. A 32-8 triumph for the Cherry and Whites was, unfortunately, a fair reflection of the contest.
The Warriors were dominant from start to finish, never looking back after Ben Flower’s fifth-minute opening score.
Having taken that early lead, coach Shaun Wane’s men then defended with a vice-like grip to snuff out any potential Giants threat. They couldn’t have done it more effectively.
All of their big-name players rose to the occasion when it mattered the most, and Huddersfield were simply unable to live with them.
It was arguably one of Wigan’s most complete performances of the season.
And it was also achieved by a full-strength Wigan side, free from injury and reaching the peak of their powers at just the right time.
With so much continuity in their side and with confidence within the camp sky-high, they’re going to be incredibly tough to beat, especially after the events of last year’s Super League Grand Final.
Their defeat at the hands of arch rivals St Helens has been the Warriors’ motivational driving force all year, with prop Flower now getting the chance to atone for his moment of madness which cost his side the trophy.
Had he not flattened Lance Hohaia and received a red card in the opening moments, Wigan would surely have gone on to be crowned champions.
Flower is about to have his chance to make amends and be part of a Warriors pack that looks primed to get the job done, particularly against a Rhinos side that, in contrast to the Grand Final opponents, looks battered and bruised after being forced to dig deep to finally clinch the League Leaders Shield in the very last second of the regular season and having not had the chance to take a break this season due to their Wembley Challenge Cup final success in August.
Besides the injury absence of hooker Paul Aiton and back-row forwards Jamie Jones-Buchanan and Stevie Ward, several of the Leeds players who are about to enter the Theatre of Dreams will be doing so carrying knocks. Those to Kevin Sinfield and Rob Burrow have been well documented.
It’s been evident since their big 50-0 Wembley Cup thrashing of Hull KR that they’ve had to limp over the finishing line, with some worrying Super 8s performances at home to St Helens (32-18) Castleford (29-22) and at Catalans Dragons (46-16), before edging past the Giants to finally collect the Shield and then playing another get-out-of-jail card to scrape a 20-13 home play-off semi-final triumph over Saints eight days ago.
The fact it’s going to be the final games for Leeds legends Sinfield, Jamie Peacock and Kylie Leuluai will surely lift the Rhinos emotionally for one final time in 2015. It simply has to.
But if Wigan produce a carbon copy of their performance against the Giants, then Wigan will be holding the trophy aloft and Leeds will be denied their dream treble.
