Wakefield Trinity win Championship Grand Final with retiring legends starring in huge win

Wakefield Trinity secured the Championship Grand Final with a 36-0 win over Toulouse Olympique as they won an impressive treble following their League Leaders Shield and 1895 Cup wins.

With IMG dictating the composition of Super League for 2025, there could have been some questions as to the importance of the game but the occasion was certainly one of magnitude with the DIY Kitchen Stadium packed out for the showpiece game of the Championship campaign.

It had been a near-flawless season for Wakefield with Daryl Powell’s side having lifted the League Leaders Shield and 1895 Cup already. Their only defeats had come against Featherstone Rovers in a mud-bath game in the Challenge Cup and whilst in France visiting Toulouse earlier in the year.

After both sides progressed in testing games last week, they met once again with silverware on the line and perhaps more important the 0.25 IMG points for Performance. With both sides harbouring Super League ambitions, those points could prove pivotal.

Trinity were without veteran Josh Griffin for the game after his devastating injury sustained against York Knights.

Wakefield Trinity secure historic treble

Tempers flared early after Toulouse full-back Olly Ashall-Bott appeared to lead with the knee into the tackle, forcing Wakefield’s Liam Hood off for a Head Injury Assessment. After the dust settled, it was Wakefield who remained calmest and they would then break the deadlock with Championship top try-scorer Derrell Olpherts scoring in the corner.

Max Jowitt converted that which was significant for two reasons, taking the game to 6-0 and taking Jowitt to within one point of the all-time record for most points in a single season in a single competition. Ten minutes later, it was Jowitt assisting 230-Trinity veteran Matty Ashurst teeing the full-back up to break the record.

In kicking that conversion to make it 12-0, Jowitt broke Lewis Jones’ record dating all the way back to 1957, however, his points tally for the season wasn’t to end there.

Trinity would end the half well on top, scoring twice down the right-hand side through back Jermaine McGillvary and Iain Thornley with Jowitt converting the former to take his season tally to an incredible 500 points, handing Wakefield a 22-0 lead at half-time.

The second half was a lot less free-flowing from Trinity with the opening 20 minutes proving very scrappy, however, on the hour mark a training ground scrum routine saw the ball shifted from right to left and into the hands of Oliver Pratt to score in the corner, making it 26-0.

Derrell Olpherts plucked Luke Gale’s kick out of the air to score his second of the match before McGillvary also bagged his brace on the opposite wing minutes later before then adding the two himself with a supreme touchline conversion to make it 36-0.

✨ Jermaine McGillvary pulls out one last trick: a conversion!

NAILED IT. 🎯@Six_Again | @TheRFL pic.twitter.com/Up09tRYV90

— The Sportsman (@TheSportsman) October 19, 2024