Warrington Wolves only given a few days to prepare for Grand Final

For years the likes of Leeds Rhinos, Wigan Warriors and St Helens have led the way with academy rugby league with the likes of Warrington Wolves, Hull FC and Hull KR pushing them.

We have seen the importance of academies to clubs with Castleford Tigers and Bradford Bulls battling to have an Elite Academy Licence.

Also academy Grand Finals can be some of the best with Leeds and Saints serving up an amazing Grand Final last year which was won by the Rhinos after some Jack Sinfield heroics.

This year’s academy Grand Final was set to see Wigan Warriors and St Helens do battle.

However, Wigan have been withdrawn from the Grand Final and replaced by beaten semi-finalists Warrington Wolves.

This is because Wigan made too many substitutions against the Wolves so have been withdrawn.

Warrington made the following statement:

“Warrington Wolves Academy will now be St Helens’ opponents in this Sunday’s Academy Grand Final.

“The RFL Board have ruled that Wigan Warriors cannot play in this weekend’s Academy Grand Final after it emerged that they made 12 interchanges in last weekend’s Semi Final against Warrington Wolves – four more than the limit of eight.

“Wigan won the game 18-12, but the RFL Board have ruled that Warrington should be reinstated to play St Helens in Sunday’s Final at the Totally Wicked Stadium.

“The judgement contains the following explanation:

“‘Clearly, this is a difficult decision to reach. The Board recognises the emotion on all sides here and especially the impact on everyone involved.’

“The Grand Final takes place at The Totally Wicked Stadium this Sunday 24 September, 2pm.

“Tickets are priced at £5 for adults, £3 concessions and £2 for Under 16s. Supporters can enter the stadium by heading to the North Stand/North East section of the stadium and using Turnstiles 21-24 which will be open from 1pm.”

One thing this statement highlights is the fact that Warrington only have a matter of days to prepare.

The statement was made on Friday and the final is on Sunday which is obviously not ideal preparation for a final but the Wolves will have to make do and try and find a way to defeat the Saints who have had a monopoly over academy rugby for a while.