Grand Final 2020: When two tribes go to war

St Helens late club commentator Ron Hoofe used to have a unique expression for describing when a player was stopped just short of the tryline. "He's within the width of a midge", Hoofe would cry out. If Ron Hoofe was still with us, not only would his commentary on St Helens' winning try in the Grand Final have been wonderful, but he would have described the gap between the two sides as being "a width of a midge".

Whilst this did not require a great degree of foresight, in a preview blog I said that the question that will dominate thoughts after the Grand Final would be how the other 10 teams catch up with Wigan and St Helens in 2021. The dramatic nature of the match means that this has not occurred yet, but in the long term it will.

Wigan and St Helens both progressed to the Grand Final without conceding a try to their semi-final opponents. Although we all knew the defensive qualities that both sides possessed, few would have predicted that attacks would be almost neutered in the Grand Final.

St Helens dominated territory and possession in the opening quarter but could not break Wigan down. Worryingly for St Helens, they looked devoid of ideas of how to break Wigan down apart from a 50 / 50 contest of a high kick. When the dust settles, St Helens will look at this for the 2021 season and try to find more creativity closer to the opponent's tryline.

That being said, St Helens have not had a problem in scoring points this season in the main. So credit must be paid to Wigan for repressing them. It is difficult from a fan's perspective to understand the level of discipline required to prevent a try when defending on the goal line. A rugby league field (and therefore a tryline) is broadly 60 metres in width. Our players have proven over the years that they don't even need 1 metre to score. 

Yet for tackle after tackle for set after set, St Helens could not work just that 1 metre of necessary space to score. Nor could they, despite marching up the field, find the strength to break through.

For Wigan, 12 players defending well would not have been enough. You need everyone. Every player must hold their position. Every player must tackle strongly. Every player must have the trust in their team mate next to them not to jump the line or stray out of position. That is the definition of team work. 

It may have drawn less attention, but St Helens' defensive effort in the first half should also be credited. Their line speed was smothering and hampered Wigan's yardage, to the extent Wigan barely had a sniff of the St Helens line for large periods.

That can't happen indefinitely and Wigan's chance did come through Zak Hardaker. As Wigan exploited a Kevin Naiqama misread, the safe money was on Zak Hardaker to finish. What was not accounted for was an incredible show of strength from Theo Fages to hold the Wigan centre up for long enough to allow five of his team mates to make the grounding impossible. Fages may have his attacking limitations, but is as strong of a defensive half back as we have in Super League.

Discipline is key too. And it was indiscipline, specifically, a needless Morgan Smithies shoulder charge that allowed St Helens to kick a penalty to lead at half time. The game was as finely poised as could be expected.

St Helens had dominated the first half, but Wigan had cause for optimism. Despite less field position, it was Wigan who looked sharper in attack and it was they who had come the closest to breaking the deadlock. On a couple of occasions, they made space, only a slack pass and brilliant cover defence denied them the first try.

The first major chance of the second half fell to St Helens, who crossed through Zeb Taia. But he was adjudged to be offside by the narrowest of margins. You could sense the game's first try was coming. It should have come through Wigan, but Jake Bibby lost his footing at a crucial moment, when Wigan had stripped the St Helens left-edge for the first time.

Jake Bibby did not need a second invitation and expertly finished his second chance on 65 minutes. Zak Hardaker's conversion attempt hit the crossbar and bounced out. This turned out to be crucial in the grand scheme of events, where a St Helens try seemed unlikely.

It was indiscipline again that cost Wigan as Jackson Hastings' high tackle on Theo Fages gave St Helens a chance to level with a penalty, which Lachlan Coote took. Then the real drama started. 

As the clocked ticked down and the scores remained level, the only way this game was going to end was unconfined joy for one team and heartbreak for the other. Time went by, the heart rate picked up, the tension grew. The blast of Chris Kendall's whistle gave Wigan a penalty and their chance to win the Grand Final with a 45m penalty with just 2 minutes to spare.

Zak Hardaker's effort had the distance, but not the accuracy. Some Wigan fans have questioned the decision to kick at goal, especially with Hardaker not being a natural goalkicker. Would Wigan have been better kicking for touch and setting up for the drop goal? With hindsight you say yes, but if Hardaker would have kicked the goal then that decision would have been praised. 

Goalkicking is an an areas where Wigan lack a specialist. With Harry Smith continuing to grow in experience, that may be rectified in 2021 and beyond.

Despite an unfathomably tough 79 minutes, St Helens next set of six was perfection. Jonny Lomax ran the ball back 30 metres instead of just settling for golden point.  This was followed up by excellent charges by Kevin Naiqama and Theo Fages.

Where Wigan do not have a goal kicking specialist, St Helens do not have a drop goal specialist. But wait. Tommy Makinson was in the pocket. He's kicked one drop goal in his career! In last year's Grand Final no less! Surely not again?! As the full time siren wailed, his 40 metre effort looked on its way. It struck the post, it bounced down, back over the crossbar, away from Bevan French and Jack Welsby was on hand to score the winning try!

St Helens deserve immense credit for that set of six. After a lung-bursting 80 minutes, they were not content to enter the lottery of golden point but went for the win. Even for the drop goal, Jack Welsby, James Bentley (who made 69 tackles in the match) and Regan Grace all chased. With the hooter sounding, on 99% of occasions, they would have been chasing a lost cause.

Yes, the bounce favoured St Helens, but that winning try would not have been scored but for those players making the kinds of effort that almost always go without reward. On this occasion, the reward came and it was the greatest of all!