Wakefield Trinity won a first-ever Super League Grand Final as they made history at Old Trafford and added another year of suffering to Warrington Wolves.
Trinity, who were near-perfect last week against Wigan Warriors, had another dominant performance as they won 23-10 to secure their own title for the first time since 1968.
That ended a 58-year drought for Trinity as Daryl Powell achieved the mandate set to him by owner Matt Ellis – to turn black and white photos of trophy lifts into colour.
Cam Scott opened the scoring after 12 minutes after Lachlan Walmsley’s outrageous offload with the lead doubled at the 25-minute mark when Isaiah Vagana scored. Jazz Tevaga’s try and Jack Sinfield’s drop goal ensured Trinity took a 19-0 lead into the break, the largest since the 2001 Grand Final.
Warrington scored first in the second half with Arron Lindop scoring the first of his tries shortly after Corey Hall’s sin bin. Sandwiched in between Lindop’s brace was Tom Johnstone’s try, which secured the victory and also ensured he was crowned the Rob Burrow Award winner for Man of the Match.
Super League Grand Final talking points
40/1 Wakefield defy the odds
Despite being ninth in the overall betting at the start of the year, priced at 40/1, Wakefield have defied the odds and made history tonight.
Last year was groundbreaking as they made the play-offs but defeat at home to Toulouse Olympique in round one cast doubt if they could repeat that feat, never mind make it to Old Trafford and dominate – which is exactly what they did.
Having climbed the mountain last week and bashed Wigan from pillar to post, there were understandable question marks if they could repeat the feat, especially given their lack of big game experience.
Those doubters were made to look like fools as Daryl Powell secured his, and Wakefield Trinity’s first ever Grand Final, with Trinity winning the top division for the first time since 1968.
Will it ever be their year?
If Warrington were ever going to break their title drought, which now stands at 71 years, then doing so in the only-ever Super League Grand Final not to feature one of the sport’s three powerhouses – Leeds Rhinos, St Helens, and Wigan Warriors – was surely their best hope.
Wakefield, as they showed, are clearly no mugs and were worthy winners but serious questions now have to be asked as to if it will ever be Warrington’s year?
In three seasons under Sam Burgess, they’ve lost three separate finals (Challenge Cup in 2024 and 2025 and Grand Final in 2026) and they’re now set to lose plenty of their experience, with George Williams, Toby King, James Bentley and Joe Philbin among those to leave at the end of the year.
Some, including myself, backed Wire for this game because of their experience in those games, believing the adage of losing one (or two in their case) before winning one would prove true, as was the case with Hull KR, but instead the belief now may be that this Warrington side simply cannot win big games.
Wire booed off at HT
As the half time hooter ended, a chorus of boos began as the Warrington Wolves fans aired their frustrations and whilst Wire certainly lacked the go-forward and their heads were dipping, much of that was on account of just how good Wakefield had been.
The stats would further highlight that as Warrington actually had a percentile better completion rate at 89% versus 88% but it was what they failed to do with the ball compared to what Wakefield did do that left the Wolves fans so irate.
Trinity had racked up 401 more metres by the half, something that was aided by Warrington’s 24 missed tackles, over twice as many as Wakefield. After waiting eight years to make it back to a Grand Final, it’s fair to say that Warrington’s fans were justified in their boos.
England debate settled
A big question coming into this one was which left winger would stand out the most, with both Tom Johnstone and Matty Ashton on the brink of an England call-up.
Tom Johnstone has seemingly settled the debate, certainly if Brian McDermott picks his side based on the play-offs as he intimated he would, with Johnstone scoring a try, assisting another, running for over 200 metres, and winning the Rob Burrow Award as Man of the Match. Simply sublime.
Off-contract star steals the show
Every single Wakefield player was brilliant, as was the case last week against Wigan, but one man produced the classiest moment of the Grand Final and he’s the only man (who will play on in 2027) without a contract at a club.
Winger Lachlan Walmsley is off-contract and Wakefield boss Daryl Powell has previously confirmed that a decision was made on the Scotland international, with the head coach admitting: “We’ve got some really young outside backs, and it’s about just giving space for young players to develop, and I just felt like it was the right thing to do.”
Incredibly, no other Super League club has offered Walmsley a deal, at least not yet as you’d expect this performance to have caught the eye. His offload for Cam Scott’s opener was sublime whilst he was among the top metre-makers in Trinity’s dominant win as well.
A HISTORIC VICTORY ⚜️@WTrinityRL are your 2026 @Betfred #SuperLeague Champions! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/e6JZmOIbgM
— Betfred Super League (@SuperLeague) October 3, 2026
Eric T Cat
October 3, 2026 at 8:15 pm
Well done
The only Englandcquestion settled is that George Williams is not the man. For the World Cup. Other teams will be rubbing their hands with glee if he’s picked, they all know how to pressure him and blot him out of the match.
The Joker
October 3, 2026 at 9:08 pm
Too many Warrington players were so substandard, until the result was settled & then they decided to try – all far too late.
Wakefield have looked the part for the last 5 – 6 weeks, and so for the neutrals, they were the team to watch.
So entertaining and…………..