2018 Super League Grand Final

Wigan Warriors

Wigan finished 2nd in regular season and seven consecutive wins in the Super 8's saw them secure 2nd place in the table. A 14–0 victory over Castleford Tigers in the semi-final earned Wigan a place in their 10th Grand Final.

Warrington Wolves

Warrington finished 4th to earn an away trip to League Leaders Shield winners St Helens in the semi finals. Warrington won 18-13 with a late try by Tom Lineham. Warrington will be contesting their 4th Grand Final.

Match details

Wigan Warriors 12

Tries: Manfredi (26,77), Davies (30)

Goals: Tomkins 0/4

Warrington Wolves 4

Tries: Charnley (12)

Goal: Roberts 0/1

First Half

Warrington opened the scoring in a cagey first half on 13 minutes as Josh Charnley went over against his former club as he took in Stefan Ratchford's looping pass before sliding over in the corner, conversion missed by Tyrone Roberts. Wigan would level matters on 25 minutes though as Dominic Manfredi marked his first Grand Final appearance since 2015 (missing the 2016 Final due to injury) with a try as he was the beneficiary of great work by Oliver Gildart as he jinked through the line before giving it to Manfredi out wide who made no mistake. Sam Tomkins missed the conversion though, and the score would remain level.

Then on 31 minutes, a George Williams kick into open space rolled into the in goal area and Tom Davies won the footrace with Charnley to drop down onto the ball and score the try after a video ref review. Again, Tomkins missed the extras and it would remain 8-4 until half time.

Second Half

The second half would see Warrington come close early on, as Tom Lineham looked to go over in the corner but a mob of Wigan defenders forced him into touch. With time running out, Wigan won a penalty on 70 minutes and despite being close to the halfway line they elected to kick it. Tomkins would miss, however, and it remained an unconverted try advantage. On 77 minutes, though, Manfredi would seal the win for Wigan as he would take in Sam Tomkins' inch perfect pass before diving over in the corner. Tomkins again missing the conversion, but Wigan taking a 2 score lead to go 12-4 ahead. Toby King almost got what would have been a consolation score for Warrington in the last minute of the game, but the video ref determined that he'd dropped the ball in his attempt at scoring and the score would remain 12-4 and finish that way.

Post-Match

This match was Shaun Wane's last game as Wigan coach before going to Scotland Rugby Union after 7 seasons as head coach of Wigan. Wigan would win their 5th Grand Final in their 10th appearance, evening up their win/loss record in Grand Finals, whilst Warrington are still waiting to end their long title drought, stretching back to 1955.

Teams