It is rugby league’s Harlem Globetrotters versus the Dirty Old Town. A modern-day sporting dynasty against the unfashionable underdogs. Rarely is a Super League Grand Final short on narrative, but on Saturday evening there will be stories everywhere you look at Old Trafford as St Helens attempt to curtail one of the more remarkable sporting fairytales in recent memory.In one corner are Saints, the runaway Super League leaders by a record 16-point margin. That alone makes them heavy favourites as they look to secure a first title in five years, but it would be doing Justin Holbrook’s side a disservice to focus on the league table. No team has been as refreshing to watch as Saints in 2019 – underlined by the way they dismantled Wigan in the semi-finals two weeks ago.
“That performance was six weeks in the making – and we’ve got another one in us,” says the prop Alex Walmsley, one of a handful of players left from their 2014 Grand Final success. Many believe if they replicate the performance that saw them beat their great rivals 40-10 a fortnight ago, success is an inevitability but try telling that to their opponents, who have made a habit of defying expectations this season.Salford Red Devils will become the eighth team to compete in a Grand Final but no team has enjoyed a journey quite like this to the season-ending showpiece. “I liken it to Leicester City,” says their forward Mark Flanagan. “Historically we’re the dirty old town, no money, no fans, a bunch of misfits – look what we’ve done and where we are.”
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