Inside the Super League Grand Final history books as Hull KR seek treble and Wigan Warriors go for three-peat

Saturday’s Super League Grand Final pits two history-seeking sides against one another as Hull KR and Wigan Warriors go head to head.

It marks the second year in a row that the two sides will face off and that’s somewhat of a rarity as well with a repeat Grand Final only happening three times in Super League history, albeit two of those instances include the run when Leeds Rhinos and St Helens faced off three years in a row from 2007 to 2009.

Leeds won all of those whereas the other instance of a repeat Grand Final saw Bradford avenge their 2004 defeat by beating the Rhinos in 2005 but the question of ‘Repeat or Revenge’ is just one of the narratives heading into the game at Old Trafford.

The bigger one is ‘Treble or Three-peat’ with Hull KR looking to cap off their incredible season by lifting a third piece of silverware, having already claimed the Challenge Cup and the League Leaders Shield.

As for Wigan, they’re looking to make it three Super League Grand Final wins in a row but which achievement is actually harder?

We looked inside the Super League history books to see which side faces a stiffer task in Saturday’s Grand Final.

Three-peat Super League Grand Final winners

The Super League Grand Final has decided the competition winner since 1998 meaning that there is a limit on how many sides can possibly win a three-peat and that stands at at nine with 27 Grand Finals having being played to date.

Wigan could become the third in the 28th Super League Grand Final and they would become the third different team to do it with Leeds Rhinos and St Helens the only sides to manage it so far.

As mentioned above, Leeds defeated Saints in 2007, 2008 and 2009 as the Red Vee went on to lose five Grand Finals on the spin, however, they’d make up for it a decade later when they began a run of four consecutive wins from 2019 through 2022.

Whilst it’s not referred to as a three-peat because Saints managed to actually go one better, St Helens did win three in a row meaning Wigan could become just the third side to manage the feat.

Treble winners in the modern era

As for Hull KR and their treble ambitions, which as referenced means winning the Challenge Cup, League Leaders Shield and Super League Grand Final, they’re bidding to become the fifth side to do it.

Four different clubs have managed the feat with the most recent coming in 2024 when Wigan, like St Helens for consecutive wins, went one better and actually secured four pieces of silverware.

Leeds Rhinos did it in 2015 as the golden generation signed off, St Helens did it in 2006 as they won BBC Sports Personality Team of the Year, but it was Bradford Bulls who did it first back in 2003.

The stats say that the three-peat is actually tougher to win but it is Wigan Warriors who are the favourites at Old Trafford on Saturday. Either way, come Sunday morning, more Super League history will have been written as we see just a third three-peat or a fifth treble in the modern era.

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