Hull KR & Wigan set for repeat of 2024 Grand Final

Two familiar foes will contest the showpiece event of the Super League season, but this year it could be a very different tale.

Wigan Warriors, the 2024 victors, face Hull KR in Saturday's Grand Final for the second time in as many years.

Just 12 months ago, the Cherry and Whites sealed victory in a nervy final under the lights at Old Trafford, capping off a historic quadruple.

In 2025 it is the Robins who stand on the precipice of sporting greatness as they target a trio of trophies of their own.

With so much at stake, BBC Sport takes a look at how both are shaping up before one of the biggest fixtures the sport has seen in the modern era.

Hull KR 'have to get job done'

It is a story that has been told time and again over the past couple of years, if for no other reason than to highlight just how much of an achievement it is for Hull KR to be tussling at the top.

Just nine years ago, they lost their Super League spot in agonising fashion having initially led Salford Red Devils in the 2016 Million Pound Game before losing on golden point and dropping into the Championship as a result.

Less than a decade later, they look set to complete one of the most impressive comebacks in sport, let alone rugby league, has ever seen and talismanic half-back Mikey Lewis summed it up best in his pre-match media commitments.

"We've built something at the club so we've got to believe each other and get this job done," he told BBC Radio Humberside.

"That's something that will fuel us on Saturday."

Their record this season makes for remarkable reading having won the Challenge Cup and League Leaders' Shield - not bad for a club which finished bottom of the pile in Super League just five years ago.

What makes this all the more impressive is the fact that Hull KR have been so undeterred by Wigan's quadruple last season that they've now threatened to win a treble themselves.

"When I first came to the club we were in a relegation battle and there wasn't much in it, either," forward Dean Hadley, who joined in 2019, added.

"To say five or six years on you've played in back-to-back Grand Finals, you've won a Challenge Cup and League Leaders, it's a totally different place.

"It's been a process, it's taken time. It's year on year making improvements. Not just on the field but off the field as well. You can feel it when you're at the club. It's a really good club and environment to be at. Players like myself and others have thrived in that."

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Hull KR set up their place in Saturday's final off the back of beating St Helens in the semi-final and Saturday will see some departures for the east Hull club.

With the youthful but formidable Lewis, accompanied by the wisdom and stewardship of senior figures like Jared Waerea-Hargreaves and Micky McIlorum, Hull KR have assembled one of the most forbidding sides of the modern era.

Yet the club, and sport, will wave goodbye to the veteran pair after Saturday's game as they retire.

For Lewis, Saturday's Grand Final is not just an opportunity to win silverware, write themselves into the record books and tick another box - it is a chance to pay respect to two of the sport's greats in style.

"To put them into retirement having won all three trophies in the first year of being at the club would be a massive achievement for them," he added.

"It's something we'd be really proud of. The leadership and the accountability and the honesty they've brought to this team this year has been massive.

"To get the job done for each other, for the east side of Hull, the board, the chairman, Neil, for our families, we all sacrifice so much and to lift that trophy would be huge for everybody."

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Wigan's chance to win three in a row

For Wigan Warriors, they can regain some glory having missed out on silverware so far in 2025, not least because of how impressive Saturday's opponents have been.

The Cherry and Whites have their own record to chase. Having reached a 14th Grand Final, they are 80 minutes away from winning three in a row for the first time in their history.

In Luke Thompson, they have the perfect man to guide them to glory at Old Trafford, with the front rower never losing in a Grand Final in four appearances - twice with St Helens and twice with Wigan.

"I see a lot of similarities. I see a lot of commitment and professionalism. The hunger," Thompson told BBC Radio Manchester about the current Wigan set up compared to his time with Saints.

"They're slightly different teams. I think we play a bit differently but I think the quality that underpins both teams, you can definitely see some similarities."

One man who could be in the mix for the Cherry and Whites is Brad O'Neill, who has his own motivation to take to the field on Saturday.

The Wigan hooker missed out last year with a serious knee injury and had conflicting emotions having been unable to play his part in their quadruple glory.

"It was definitely a proud moment for myself watching on and seeing the team do something special that year," he said.

"It was a bittersweet feeling. It would have meant so much last year to play in it but the fact that we've got here now, I'm so grateful, and I definitely won't be taking it for granted come Saturday night."

Wigan captain Liam Farrell is no stranger to a Super League Grand Final and knows what it takes to win on the big occasion.

Whereas some players would be unnerved by the big occasion Farrell, in contrast, thrives off his nerves.

"If I played one game for Wigan, never mind the Grand Final, I'd have been very happy. But to be in the position I'm in now, leading my team out for a third year in a row, it's a very special feeling," Farrell told BBC Radio Manchester.

"I can't really put into words how special it is, but it's one I'm excited about and to create some more memories with the special group we've got.

"It calms me down, the fact that I do still get nervous. It makes me realise that I still care about what I do. I want us to win, I don't want to lose.

"The club wants success and the town wants success. I think that's where the nerves come from and I like the fact that I do get them."

Farrell, a Wigan veteran, might well be in the twilight of his career at 35 but he still believes he has the fight in him to continue and will not hang up his boots regardless of the result on Saturday.

"If you're able to win one and go out like that, it'd be a nice way to go out, but I still think I've got a little bit more to give and the club wanted me to still stay on so I'm very happy about that," he added.

"I'd say psychologically I'm still enjoying it as well, that's probably the main thing for me, which is a big aspect and I think as long as I'm doing that and happy about what I'm doing then I'll still go around."