Rugby League Grand Final 2013: Key Battles in Wigan vs. Warrington Showdown

Wigan Warriors will be looking to become just the third team in 18 years, and the first since 2006, to win both the Challenge Cup and the Super League Grand Final in the same year.

The Warriors take on last year’s beaten finalists Warrington Wolves in this Saturday’s final at Old Trafford. The Wolves will be looking to right the wrongs of their heartbreaking defeat to Leeds at the same stage last year and to end a 58-year wait for a league title.

Wigan, the 2010 champions, have yet to beat the Wolves this year, drawing 17-17 with the Cheshire side in February before coming out on the wrong side of a 22-12 defeat in June.

Here’s a look at three scenarios that could tip the balance this weekend.

Sean O’Loughlin’s Race for Fitness

Wigan’s biggest battle could come before the team even steps foot on the Old Trafford pitch.

Warriors’ captain O’Loughlin, who was one of three nominated for the Man of Steel award this season, has missed 10 of his club’s last 11 matches with an Achilles injury, but his importance to the side is immeasurable. He’s a commanding figure on and off the field, and Wigan will be in a better position with him leading out the side on Saturday.

If O’Loughlin does miss out then Sam Tomkins will skipper the side, but teammate Liam Farrell admits the whole team would like to see O’Loughlin return. 

Speaking to BBC Radio Manchester, Farrell said: “He's an outstanding captain who brings a presence on the field. If he had any chance of playing, he definitely would. People talk about how we miss Sam when he doesn't play, but he would admit that the person we miss the most in that team is Sean."

Liam Farrell vs. Ben Westwood

When Wigan’s Farrell and Warrington’s Westwood lock horns this Saturday it will be a battle of experience and youth between the second rows.

In fact, their matchup will be indicative of the game itself. As Andy Wilson pointed out in the Guardian, the Warrington team who got the better of Huddersfield in the semi-final had an average age of 29. In Wigan’s win over Leeds, their mean age was a relatively youthful 24.

Farrell was named man of the match when the sides first met this year. That performance prompted Wigan boss Shaun Wane to describe the night to the Manchester Evening News as the moment his local prodigy went from “boy to man.”

Farrell explained that his performance against Westwood that night did his confidence the world of good.

“Ben is a player I have total respect for,” he told the Manchester Evening News. “He is just so tough. No matter how many times he is hit, he just keeps coming back at you even harder.

“He is an awesome forward and he will be firing in on Saturday no doubt.”

Their repeat matchup this Saturday is an enticing prospect.

Been There, Done That

Warrington have finished in the top two in the past three seasons and have won three Challenge Cups since 2009, but they have yet to get their hands on a league title.

Wigan, however, have experienced league success on the Old Trafford pitch before. They beat St. Helen’s in the 2010 final, and, if the game gets tight, there’s always the possibility that old memories will start to come to the fore.

If the form book is anything to go by then Warrington should be the favourites but they will need to battle away the demons of last year’s defeat to Leeds if they are to pull through what will likely be a tightly contested final.

Sam Tomkins

Tomkins was central to Wigan’s victory over St Helens in the 2010 final, and if Warrington are to end their title drought they will need to contain the Wigan man.

Tomkins will be playing his last match in Wigan colours after the New Zealand Warriors broke the world-record transfer fee to secure his services for next year.

The full-back, who was the league’s Man of Steel in 2012, is integral to Wigan’s attacking threat. He has scored 23 tries this season and provided 20 assists.