All eyes turn to Old Trafford on Saturday evening for the culmination of the 2016 domestic rugby league calendar as Warrington Wolves take on Wigan Warriors for the top prize in the game, the Super League trophy.
The bookies are struggling to choose between the two, making Warrington the slightest of favourites, as the top side in the league take on the team who finished in second place.
Both sides have previous Grand Final experience but only Wigan have their name on the trophy.
The Warriors return to Old Trafford for the fourth consecutive time, having lost on their last two visits against Leeds Rhinos in 2015 and St Helens in 2014. The Warriors have won the Grand Final on three occasions (1998, 2010 & 2013), the last of which was a 30-16 win over the Warrington Wolves.
This will be the third visit for the Wolves who lost back to back finals in 2012 and 2013 to Leeds Rhinos and Wigan respectively. Having already tasted final defeat in 2016 when they lost out to Hull FC at Wembley in the Challenge Cup Final, Tony Smith's side are determined to add to their League Leaders Trophy and get their name on the trophy for the first time, making it only the fifth name in nineteen years (joining Wigan, St. Helens, Leeds and Bradford).
The two sides have met on three occasions in 2016 with Warrington victors on two occasions. Wigan's only win was the last meeting on September 16th when they won by 35-28 at the Halliwell-Jones. Over the three meetings Warrington have outscored Wigan by a ratio in excess of 3:2.
The big team news for Wigan is the potential inclusion of skipper Sean O'Loughlin who hasn't played for over two months. Despite not being named in Shaun Wane's original nineteen it is understood that he will be given right up until kick-off to prove his fitness, and he was added to the nineteen man squad yesterday morning.
Apart from O'Loughlin, the only other change is the addition of Ben Flowers who returns from suspension to take his place in the squad.
The full nineteen for Wigan is; John Bateman, Joe Bretherton, Josh Charnley, Dom Crosby, Liam Farrell, Ben Flower, Anthony Gelling, Oliver Gildart, Willie Isa, Frank-Paul Nuuausala, Sam Powell, Dan Sarginson, Jake Shorrocks, Matty Smith, Ryan Sutton, Taulima Tautai, Lewis Tierney, Sean O'Loughlin & George Williams.
The Wolves have added Chris Sandow, Ryan Bailey and Brad Dwyer into the mix in a nineteen named as; Ryan Atkins, Ryan Bailey, Daryl Clark, Brad Dwyer, Rhys Evans, Kurt Gidley, Chris Hill, Jack Hughes, George King, Toby King, Tom Lineham, Declan Patton, Joe Philbin, Stefan Ratchford, Matty Russell, Chris Sandow, Ashton Sims, Joe Westerman, & Sam Wilde.
The anticipation is building ahead of what is sure to be a closely fought Grand Final which promises to be played out if front of a packed Old Trafford and large TV audience.
Enjoy the game.
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