I have made the walk down to Old Trafford for the Super League Grand Final many a time throughout my life. Many as a child as a fan, quite a few in my job today. None felt like October 3, 2026.
Every sport searches for storylines, for potential fairytales and dreams come true to hang their hat on. They want the big finish, the crescendo, the ending so perfect it would be questioned as to whether it could actually be real. The difference for Warrington and Wakefield in this year's Grand Final was that history was guaranteed for the winner.
Wakefield claimed it and then some with their 23-10 victory, every thread of individual stories merging to create a day in which a small city was small no longer. The Wakefield fans descended on the Theatre of Dreams hoping theirs would be granted in some number. The Stretford End was bouncing for hours before kick-off with faces of pure jubilation.
Of course, there were nerves, there was anticipation, but overall, there was pure excitement that they were even in the big dance in the first place. The 'red, white and blue army' soaked in and created atmosphere, their chants on a non-stop loop, brief interludes coming to sing along to big numbers from performers Soul Symphony and to give rapturous applause to Sir Kevin Sinfield as he finished his seventh ultra marathon in seven days and brought the trophy onto the field before presenting the match ball. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player Think of his son, Jack, who at just 22 years old had watched his dad win seven times on this very turf before having his own chance amongst the emotion of his dad showing the epitome of friendship for the MND community once again.
Sinfield owned his moment and kicked over the drop goal on the stroke of half-time that essentially took the game away from Warrington. He owned his moment just as he watched his dad do so many times before. The look of pure emotion on Kevin Sinfield's face said it all.
Sinfield is a youngster that Wakefield went for as they built this squad full of youthful exuberance and unearthed talent. Jazz Tevaga, Tyson Smoothy, captain Mike McMeeken, and Rob Burrow Award winner Tom Johnstone showed how to own a big game. Caleb Hamlin-Uele and Caius Faatili were so destructive in their metre-making that nothing would slow them down.
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