With the likes of Leeds Rhinos, Wigan Warriors and Warrington Wolves dreaming of Old Trafford, they have seen what that will take tonight as St Helens and Catalans Dragons collided.
The French side went into the game as underdogs despite being top of the league with a four point lead over the Saints with Leigh Leopards sandwiched between them.
However, many felt this was the Grand Final rehearsal.
It was of course a rematch of the 2021 Grand Final and a chance for revenge for the Saints after they were beaten by the French side in a game overshadowed by a bull.
The Saints find themselves 8-0 down after a penalty early on a great break away try created by reportedly Wigan bound Adam Keighran who fed Tom Johnstone who went the length.
However, as you would expect from these two intense teams, the game was quite fiery.
It nearly boiled over when Sam Tomkins was caught high by Sione Mata’utia.
There was subsequently a pile on with Tomkins at the bottom and Terry O’Connor wasn’t impressed.
“I think Sam Tomkins is hurt from being at the bottom of a pile on. It looked like a ruck in rugby union,” he said on Sky Sports.
“There’s no need for it. Don’t get involved with this. There’s no need for it.
“It makes it look a lot worse.”
Liam Moore gave Catalans a penalty for a high tackle but no card was shown as Tomkins was falling.
He also dressed down both sides for running in and O’Connor praised the officials.
“That’s good refereeing there. There’s no need for an over reaction to the tackle, everyone knows Sam Tomkins has got footwork and he was going down in the tackle.
“But there’s no need for people running in. Don’t get involved. There’s no need for it and it makes it look worse.”
Saints eventually hit back through Mark Percival. With halftime approaching the Saints made it 8-6 in what has been a very intense game between two top teams.
However, the Dragons could have pulled further ahead just before the break with a brilliant break which seemed set to send Tomkins clear but Mitchell Pearce’s pass was given as forward to the frustration Tomkins who threw the ball away.
At halftime, Jon Wilkin said Steve McNamara “won’t be happy with the officials” as he described Catalans as “unlucky” with some “tough calls” suggesting that the forward pass was at the least harsh.
Brian Carney meanwhile called back to last week when St Helens seemingly got away with a forward pass for a crucial try against Warrington Wolves.
He said: “We see some go your way and some don’t, as we saw last week.”
Shortly after the break, Jenna Brooks revealed on Sky Sports that Steve McNamara was left “angry” by the calls in the first half but less about the forward pass and more about the number of penalties given in the lead up to Percival’s try.
She also revealed that he had spoken to the match commissioner about this.
