Wigan and Hull KR tussle for Grand Final glory

Wigan Warriors are aiming for a sixth Super League Grand Final win while Hull KR have reached the end-of-season showpiece for the first time

Betfred Super League Grand Final - Wigan Warriors v Hull KR

Venue: Old Trafford, Manchester Date: Saturday, 12 October Kick-off: 18:00 BST

Coverage: Commentary on BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds; live text on BBC Sport website & app; highlights on BBC Two at 14:50 BST on Sunday, 13 October and on BBC iPlayer

One team is looking to complete an unprecedented season of success in the modern era, one side wants to spoil the party and enter into the elite list of names to lift the Grand Final trophy.

Wigan Warriors face-off against Hull KR in an epic battle for glory under the lights at Old Trafford on Saturday.

A seventh triumph is at stake for the Cherry and Whites, off the back of another stunning campaign under head coach Matt Peet.

But can Willie Peters' Robins cause an upset for the ages to become only the fifth club to be crowned champions?

BBC Sport takes a look at how things are set up for a scintillating match-up.

Peet's list of achievements in less than three seasons in charge of Wigan is not so much a roll call of trophies as it is a stacked silverware cabinet.

Within months of his arrival in 2022 he led them to the Challenge Cup with victory against Huddersfield and followed that up with the double whammy of the League Leaders' Shield and Grand Final glory in 2023.

In 2024, however, Peet's side have turned into the juggernauts of the division.

No side in the Super League era has won the quadruple of the World Club Challenge, Challenge Cup, League Leaders' Shield and Super League Grand Final - but Wigan are just 80 minutes away from achieving that feat and writing themselves into the record books.

"I don't feel any different to be honest," Peet told BBC Radio Manchester when asked if anything has changed given what is at stake.

"The opportunity is there now and we have to concentrate on playing well and if we do, and we get the win, then we can start talking about it.

"But if we don't then it will be irrelevant."

Wigan Warriors boss Matt Peet has won the Challenge Cup and League Leaders' Shield twice as well as the World Club Challenge and Super League title

'I know what the expectation is'

Wigan and Hull KR have met three times already in 2024 - twice in Super League with, each side earning a win, while Warriors recorded a thumping victory in the Challenge Cup semi-final in May.

Their most recent match-up came at the tail-end of a bruising season in September as Wigan edged out the Robins to take top spot, and a giant leap towards their eventual League Leaders' Shield triumph.

There is plenty of respect from the Wigan camp for Saturday's opponents as they brace for a fourth meeting this year.

"They're an outstanding team. What they've built as an organisation in recent years means they're going to be competing for a long time to come," Peet continued.

"We know as a team when we play against good teams and one of our toughest games in recent years was against Hull KR. We've won some but they've won some as well so we're evenly matched."

With so much at stake, and with his side on the cusp of becoming timeless greats, Peet is unnerved.

"I feel like there was pressure on me when I got the job. Everyone was asking me 'what's your background?' and what you are going to do?" he added.

"When you win one [Grand Final] people ask you if you're pressured to win two. I don't think it changes that much in a job like this because there's an expectation around the role but I'm from Wigan, I've worked in Wigan's academy and I know what the expectation of the club is."

Can Hull KR be fifth side to lift trophy?

Hull KR arrive at a first-ever Super League Grand Final as members of an exclusive club.

Only 10 teams have ever contested a Grand Final since his formation in 1998 with just four teams - St Helens, Wigan Warriors, Bradford Bulls and Leeds Rhinos - winning the contest.

Despite not being one of the historic big names in Super League, boss Peters is optimistic about their chances of glory on the big stage.

"To give ourselves the chance to be the first outside the four to win the silverware, I'm very confident with the team and the staff we've got that we're going to give it a good shake," he told BBC Sport.

Peters has amassed a stellar squad, experienced heads joining forces with new faces who have continued the transformation under the Australian.

Ryan Hall - who will equal Carl Ablett's record of seven Grand Final appearances without defeat if KR win on Saturday, along with Matt Parcell and Matty Storton - will move on at the end of the season having bolstered their push for silverware.

Meanwhile, from the ignominy of relegation with Wakefield last season to a complete change in fortunes this term, Kalepi Tanginoa and Jai Whitbread have shored up the Hull KR squad in a remarkable season which resulted in them winning 21 of their 27 Super League games.

"We've had some tough games for weeks. We've played all the top teams at the back end of the year. We had the hardest run home so we deserve to be here. That gets you battle-hardened," Peters added.

"Having a game like we had against Warrington put us in good stead for this week as we know what this game is going to be like, it'll be set-for-set and end-to-end and we know we can do it because we've done it for a long period of time."

Team news

Wigan name an unchanged squad off the back of a 38-0 win over borough rivals Leigh Leopards in the play-off semi-final last weekend.

Meanwhile, Hull KR name their 21-man squad without former Wigan centre Oliver Gildart.

Gildart missed last week's last-four win over Warrington with a rib injury and despite Robins boss Peters indicating earlier this week he could be available for selection, he is not part of their squad.

Wigan (from): Field, Miski, Keighran, Wardle, Marshall, French, Smith, Havard, Byrne, Farrell, Ellis, Mago, Thompson, Leeming, Dupree, Hill, Nsemba, Walters, Eckersley, Forber, Farrimond.

Hull KR (from): Hiku, Evalds, Opacic, Hall, Lewis, Sue, Litten, King, Hadley, Batchelor, Minchella, Parcell, Luckley, Whitbread, Storton, Tanginoa, May, Burgess, Broadbent, Brown, Richardson.

Referee: Chris Kendall.