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Holders Wigan and debutants Hull KR are preparing to square up in an intriguing 2024 Super League Grand Final at Old Trafford on Saturday night.
Matt Peet’s men go into the game looking to become the first team to win the quadruple in the same season, having blitzed neighbours Leigh 38-0 in last week’s play-off semi-final.
But Rovers have been the emergent force this term and are confident of pulling off a win that would send the first major trophy since 1985 hurtling back to east Hull.
Here the PA news agency picks out four of the crucial battles that could decide the destiny of this year’s title.
Wing: Liam Marshall v Ryan Hall
Marshall, this season’s leading try-scorer with 27, goes head to head with veteran Hall, whose brace against Huddersfield in June took him top of the all-time Super League standings with 248.
Marshall will take some stopping after forging a scything partnership with centre Jake Wardle on Wigan’s left edge.
But who would bet against 36-year-old Hall, who already has six Grand Final wins to his name with Leeds, signing off his Rovers career in style?
Halves: Bevan French v Mikey Lewis
Breathtaking audacity meets home-grown grit in an intriguing clash of styles at scrum-half.
As evidenced in his stunning semi-final try against Leigh, French on his day can prove virtually unplayable.
But Lewis, who this week succeeded the Australian as Super League Man of Steel, has been the crucial factor in Rovers’ re-emergence, aligning a cool kicking game with a maturity that made the 23-year-old the season’s clear stand-out star.
Pack: Luke Thompson v Jai Whitbread
Thompson, a 2014 Grand Final winner with St Helens, returned to Super League this season after three years in the NRL with Canterbury Bulldogs, and his strength and experience shored up an already-impressive Wigan front row.
Whitbread, meanwhile, has proved one of the unsung stars of Rovers’ campaign, a hugely dependable and no-nonsense bulwark who will need to play another blinder to keep Wigan’s big men at bay.
Loose forward: Kaide Ellis v Elliot Minchella
Ellis has excelled after being handed Wigan’s famous number 13 jersey at the start of the 2024 campaign, earning plaudits from head coach Peet for his all-round game and calming influence on his less-experienced team-mates.
Rovers captain Minchella also leads by example, his absence through suspension keenly felt in his side’s last two games, and, like French and Lewis, is capable of holding the destiny of this year’s title in his hands.
