Wakefield Trinity win a first Super League title, 23-10, at Old Trafford

Wakefield Trinity won the Betfred Super League Grand Final 23-10 against Warrington Wolves at Old Trafford on Saturday 3 October, taking a first Super League title in the 29th official grand final. The crowd was 71,728. Kick-off was 18:00 BST. Liam Moore refereed. Tom Johnstone, who scored the try that pushed the score to 23-6, received the Rob Burrow Award. Laura Wright sang Jerusalem. Sky Sports carried the match live, with highlights on BBC iPlayer.

The half-time score was 19-0. Wakefield's tries came from Cameron Scott in the 11th minute, Isaiah Vagana in the 25th, Jazz Tevaga in the 35th, and Johnstone in the 59th. Max Jowitt converted the first three. Jack Sinfield added a drop goal on 38 minutes, the point that made it 19-0 rather than 18-0. Warrington's only tries were both by Arron Lindop, on 46 and 72 minutes, and Irwin converted the first of them. The second was unconverted. Corey Hall was in the sin bin from the 43rd to the 53rd minute.

How a 19-point lead survived the restart

Warrington had the ball and a man advantage for part of the third quarter and still came out of that spell behind. Lindop's first try, a minute after Hall was sent, and Irwin's conversion made it 19-6. Hall returned to even the sides. Johnstone then finished in the 59th minute to make it 23-6. Lindop crossed again in the 72nd minute. The conversion was missed. Wakefield closed the match 23-10.

The shape of the score is the useful fact. Wakefield scored 19 of their 23 points before the break, from three converted tries and a drop goal. They scored one try after the interval. Warrington scored all 10 of their points in the second half and never led. A final of 23-10 that was 19-0 at half-time is a different match from a final that turns in the last ten minutes. The second-half numbers, 10-4 to Warrington, describe a chase that started too late.

What the title ends

Wakefield had not won a Super League title before Saturday. The grand final has been the championship decider since the competition adopted it, and this was the 29th official edition. Warrington reached Old Trafford and left without the trophy. The Rob Burrow Award, named for the former Leeds scrum-half who died in 2024 after motor neurone disease, went to Johnstone, the wing whose pass put Vagana in on 25 minutes and who scored himself on 59.

The venue and the attendance fix the scale. Old Trafford is the permanent grand-final ground. A crowd of 71,728 is a near-full house for a rugby league final in a football stadium, and it is the number that separates this match from a regular-season game at Wakefield. The September league meeting between the same clubs, a 25-18 Wakefield win in front of 9,057 at their own ground, was a different fixture with a different referee and a different stake. Saturday was the one that ends the season.

The open item is not the score. It is what a first title does to a squad that spent the regular season outside the group of clubs that have owned the final. Johnstone's award and the 19-0 half are the two facts the record will keep. The rest of the winter is recruitment and a draw that will not treat Wakefield as a side passing through.