Men
Grand Final 2024 Stats Breakdown
14 Oct 2024
Wigan Warriors defeated Hull KR at Old Trafford Saturday, retaining their Betfred Super League Champions title.
Similar to 2023’s Grand Final, 2024 also saw a low-scoring affair with the Warriors’ Bevan French crossing for the only try of the game at the Theatre of Dreams.
As well as his memorable match-winning try, French ran for 138 metres from an impressive 15 carries and made an insane 15 tackle busts. He also came up with 31 tackles.
It was an excellent all-round performance from the Warriors wizard, as he was selected as the worthy winner of the inaugural Rob Burrow Award.
#GrandFinal standout performers ?
— Betfred Super League (@SuperLeague) October 14, 2024
Bevan French won the Rob Burrow Award for his match-winning display at Old Trafford ?#SuperLeague pic.twitter.com/xhWAEYtb2h
It was a similar story for plenty of the Wigan stars – fullback Jai Field made the most metres with 161 in just 17 carries, along with five tackle busts.
Abbas Miski, Jake Wardle and Liam Marshall also ran for over 100 metres, as did Luke Thompson, who made a whooping 145 metres in attack, as well as his applaudable 48 tackles in defence.
Captain Liam Farrell, Kaide Ellis and Ethan Havard notched up impressive 50+ tackle counts – playing a significant role in Wigan’s historic win.
Harry Smith played a major role with the boot – nine of Wigan’s 13 attacking kicks came from the halfback himself. He also kicked an important drop goal in the first forty, edging his side in front.
In defeat, James Batchelor, Dean Hadley and Matt Parcell completed over 40 tackles for Hull KR, while their captain Elliot Minchella made a mammoth 59 tackles – the highest of any player in Saturday’s Grand Final – in what was a gritty defensive performance on both sides.
Grand Final veteran Ryan Hall was the night’s top metre maker with 177 metres in 25 carries. In what was his final game as a Robins, he also produced an incredible try-saving tackle on Jake Wardle - keeping his side in the game until the very end.
Steve Prescott MBE Man of Steel Mikey Lewis closely followed Hall with the second most metres made in the Hull KR side (146), and was responsible for the Robins’ only two points on the night.
There was little to separate the two sides on the night. They shared an event split of possession (50%), but Wigan managed to complete 34 sets to Hull KR’s 27.
Hull KR only made 83 metres and 22 carries more than Wigan, highlighting the closeness of the encounter, but the Robins were unable to break down the Warriors’ defensive line.
Interestingly, there were only 14 'Play the Balls' from each side in their opposition’s 20 metres – highlighting an extremely tough game of defence.
The Warriors made 52 tackle busts, while Hull KR made 32 – Hall, Jack Broadbent and Mikey Lewis all made over four tackle busts each in attempt to try and break down the current Champions' Cherry & White wall.
In total, Wigan made 411 tackles compared to Hull KR’s 379. Willie Peters’ side also missed 52 tackles to the Warriors 32 - a telling stat in the outcome of the contest.
Ultimately, it was the Warriors who emerged victors, as they bowed out once again as Super League Champions for 2024.