St Helens have secured a fourth straight Super League Grand final crown as they defeated Leeds Rhinos 24-12. The Saints continued their recent Super League dominance with yet another historic night at Old Trafford.
Their win in front of the 60,000 crowd in Manchester wrote them into the Super League history books once more, as they secured a record ninth Grand final crown. The final win also proved the perfect send off for Kristian Woolf who leaves as the only coach to win three-straight titles.
Things got off to the perfect start for St Helens, as they opened the scoring after just three minutes courtesy of a try from Matty Lees and a conversion from Tommy Makinson.
Things got even better for the defending champions 15 minutes, as they had their second try of the evening through Jon Bennison, whilst Makinson added his second conversion of the night. With the Saints looking comfortable, the Rhinos looked to battle their way back into it.
They halved the deficit just before the break as Rhyse Martin and Kruise Leeming added a try and conversion to keep them in it. Their fightback did not last long though, as just five minutes after the restart, St Helens restored their 12-point advantage thanks to Konrad Hurrell and Makinson.
As time went by, the game continued to slip away from the Rhinos and the defending champions charged out of sight when they added a fourth trial through Mark Percival on the hour mark. Leeds looking to rescue some pride late on as Martin added his second try of the night, before converting.
However, it proved too little too late for the West Yorkshire side as their Lancashire rivals secured their record-breaking victory. Post-match, the signing off Woolf paid tribute to the players who helped him secure a third-straight title.
He told Sky Sports: "Winning the first Grand Final was my greatest achievement so to do three in a row is absolutely outstanding, but it's not about me - it's this group of men.
"They're outstanding, they deserve everything they get and they deserve to be known as the best team in the Super League era - there's no doubt about that."
