Remembering the time Super League club were denied Grand Final spot by M62 accident

On Saturday night we will see Wigan Warriors and Catalans Dragons collide in the Betfred Super League Grand Final. The game is already historic as the Dragons join Leeds Rhinos, Warrington Wolves, Bradford Bulls, St Helens and opponents Wigan as only the sixth club to reach more than one Grand Final.

But that accolade nearly came to Hull FC when they played in back to back semi-finals in 2016 and 2017.

The Black and Whites become only the fifth team to ever play in a Grand Final in 2006 when they were beaten by the treble chasing St Helens 26-4.

In 2016 they spent much of the season top of the league. The Black and Whites lost their home semi-final though in the final round of the regular season and were then beaten by Wigan Warriors in the semi-final a week later.

A year later they again finished third and had to go away to Leeds Rhinos in the semi-finals. Many hoped they would join Castleford Tigers in the Grand Final which would have guaranteed a new name on the trophy.

Many also believed that they would win the game after their semi-final win over Leeds in the Challenge Cup.

But they were fighting an uphill battle from the start of the night. This is because they arrived late to the ground due to an accident on the M62.

This meant they only arrived at Headingley around an hour before kick off which meant their preparation was hurt before the game and this translated to a slow start.

Within the first five minutes Leeds were over for the first try. After a late hit from Liam Watts on Danny McGuire, Leeds were awarded a penalty.

Straight from the tap, Stevie Ward stormed into the Hull FC defence, twisted and turned and touched down.

Leeds added to their lead when Anthony Mullally took a Danny McGuire offload to score after the stand-off jinked through a number of tackles.

Hull FC would eventually warm into the game and take a 16-12 lead with Gareth Ellis getting the comeback show on the road.

Leeds would book their place at Old Trafford though as Ryan Hall stormed through finding Liam Sutcliffe in support who crossed before Kallum Watkins nailed the match winning conversion.

But take away the 12-point head start for the Rhinos which you could relate to their problems getting to Headingley and it would be a very different story.