2009 Super League Grand Final
2009 | Super League Grand Final|||||||||||||
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Date | 10 October 2009 | ||||||||||||
Stadium | Old Trafford | ||||||||||||
Location | Manchester | ||||||||||||
Harry Sunderland Trophy | Kevin Sinfield ( Leeds Rhinos) | ||||||||||||
Headliners | The Wombats[1] | ||||||||||||
Referee | Steve Ganson[2] | ||||||||||||
Attendance | 63,259 | ||||||||||||
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Broadcasters | |||||||||||||
Commentators | |||||||||||||
The 2009 Super League Grand Final was the 12th official Grand Final and conclusive and championship-deciding match of the
The 2009 decider, contested by the sides finishing 1st and 2nd in the competition, was a very close contest, played at a furious pace from end to end with the lead changing several times and rarely being more than a single point. Every ruling on try-scoring situations was given by the
Background
# | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Leeds Rhinos | 27 | 21 | 0 | 6 | 805 | 453 | +352 | 42 |
2 | St. Helens | 27 | 19 | 0 | 8 | 733 | 466 | +267 | 38 |
Route to the Final
Leeds Rhinos
Round | Opposition | Score |
---|---|---|
Qualifying Play-Off | Hull Kingston Rovers (H) | 44-8 |
Qualifying Semi-Final | Catalans Dragons (H) | 27-20 |
Key: (H) = Home venue; (A) = Away venue; (N) = Neutral venue. |
St Helens
Round | Opposition | Score |
---|---|---|
Qualifying Play-Off | Huddersfield Giants (H) | 15-2 |
Qualifying Semi-Final | Wigan Warriors (H) | 14-10 |
Key: (H) = Home venue; (A) = Away venue; (N) = Neutral venue. |
Match details
It was the third consecutive year that these two teams faced each other in the Super League Grand Final. Both sides were at full strength.
Pre-match entertainment was provided by
Leeds Rhinos | 18 - 10 | St. Helens |
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Tries: | Report |
Tries: Kyle Eastmond Goals: Kyle Eastmond (3) |
Old Trafford, Manchester Attendance: 63,259[5] Referee: Steve Ganson[2] Player of the Match: Kevin Sinfield |
Leeds Rhinos | Position | St Helens | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Brent Webb | FB | 1 | Paul Wellens |
2 | Scott Donald | WG | 2 | Ade Gardner |
3 | Lee Smith |
CE | 3 | Matthew Gidley |
4 | Keith Senior | CE | 18 | Kyle Eastmond |
5 | Ryan Hall | WG | 5 | Francis Meli |
6 | Danny McGuire | SO | 6 | Leon Pryce |
7 | Rob Burrow | SH | 7 | Sean Long |
8 | Kylie Leuluai | PR | 10 | James Graham |
14 | Matt Diskin | HK | 9 | Keiron Cunningham (c) |
10 | Jamie Peacock | PR | 16 | Tony Puletua |
11 | Jamie Jones-Buchanan | SR | 13 | Chris Flannery |
18 | Carl Ablett | SR | 12 | Jon Wilkin |
13 | Kevin Sinfield (c) | LF | 11 | Lee Gilmour |
12 | Ali Lauitiiti |
Int. | 14 | James Roby |
16 | Ryan Bailey | Int. | 15 | Bryn Hargreaves |
17 | Ian Kirke | Int. | 17 | Paul Clough |
19 | Luke Burgess | Int | 23 | Maurie Fa'asavalu |
Brian McClennan | Coach | Mick Potter |
First Half
St Helens kicked off and after thirteen minutes of end-to-end football they were thirty metres out from Leeds' goal-line when Jon Wilkin chip-kicked the ball ahead for Kyle Eastmond to regather, crossing the line then running back infield to improve the field position for the kick before grounding it.
2nd half
Leeds kicked off and the ball went over the line after touching the arm of St. Helens' winger Ade Gardner. This gave a scrum feed to the Rhinos in an attacking position and when Sinfield got the ball close to the uprights he kicked a drop goal, putting Leeds in front for the first time in the match at 9 - 8.[9] Just on forty-five minutes St. Helens centre Matt Gidley made a break and sent his winger Ade Gardner racing down the sideline to try to score in the corner. But after video analysis it was shown that the Leeds defenders coming across had forced him into touch before he grounded the ball. In the 58th minute St. Helens were again down at Leeds' end of the field when they got a penalty for a high shot on Sean Long from Rob Burrow. Saints opted to take the two points and Kyle Eastmond performed his third successful kick in a row, giving his side a one-point lead at 10-9. About seven minutes later Leeds were right down on St. Helens' goal line when Keiron Cunningham, in an attempt to slow things down, knocked the ball out of a Rhinos player's arms as he got up to play it, giving away a penalty. Sinfield's kick from right in front was never going to miss, so the one-point lead was with Leeds once again at 11-10, now with just over fifteen minutes remaining. At the sixty-eight-minute mark, St. Helens were on the attack and moved the ball out to Eastmond's wing where he dived over in the corner. Again the video referee was called on to check whether the St. Helens winger was taken into touch before scoring and he was, a desperate tackle by Sinfield pushing Eastmond's body into the corner post. Back at the other end of the field, Saints' goal-line defence was forced to absorb mounting pressure as Leeds attacked repeatedly, eventually penetrating when a chip kick from McGuire on the last tackle was chased and picked up by Lee Smith who touched down in the seventy-third minute. Once more the video referee's decision was requested, this time to check whether the scorer was on-side.[10] Despite Smith appearing to be slightly in front of McGuire when the ball left his boot, the benefit of the doubt was given and the try was awarded.[11]
The extras were kicked from straight in front by Sinfield, so the score was 17-10 in favour of Leeds with under seven minutes of play remaining.[12] Just on the seventy-eight-minute mark the ball went to Rob Burrow for a drop goal attempt which he kicked successfully,[13] putting the score at 18-10, which it would remain until the full-time siren.[14]
It was the Rhinos' two-try hero, Lee Smith's final game for Leeds before moving to rugby union.[15] Leeds' forward Kevin Sinfield was awarded the Harry Sunderland Trophy as man-of-the-match.[16]
The following day over 8,000 fans were at
Telecast details
The Grand Final was shown in 30 countries worldwide with a potential audience of over 100 million people.[18] In addition to a live broadcast in the United Kingdom by primary broadcast partner Sky Sports, the game was also shown live in the United States, the Middle East, Russia, Romania, Poland and New Zealand.[18] France, Australia, Papua New Guinea, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia and Spain saw the match in a delayed telecast.[18] BBC Sport showed an hour-long programme of extended highlights.[18]
2010 World Club Challenge
Having won the grand final, the
References
- ^ a b c d "The Wombats to entertain Grand Final crowd". Super League. 9 October 2009. Retrieved 9 October 2009.
- ^ a b UKPA (6 October 2009). "Grand Final duty for Ganson". Press Association. Retrieved 9 October 2009.[dead link]
- ^ "St Helens 10-18 Leeds Rhinos". 10 October 2009 – via news.bbc.co.uk.
- ^ Soneji, Pranav (10 October 2009). "Super League Grand Final as it happened". BBC. Archived from the original on 13 October 2009. Retrieved 10 October 2009.
- ^ "Rhinos Take Super League Title". Sky News. 11 October 2009. Retrieved 11 October 2009.
- ^ Burke, David (11 October 2009). "Smith's Crisp". The Daily Mirror. Retrieved 7 August 2011.
- ^ AFP (11 October 2009). "Leeds makes it Super League hat-trick". ABC News. Retrieved 7 August 2011.
- ^ AAP (11 October 2009). "Leeds claim third successive Grand Final". nrl.com. Archived from the original on 3 October 2012. Retrieved 7 August 2011.
- ^ Linfoot, Ben (10 October 2009). "Grand Final: Leeds Rhinos 18 St Helens 10". Sky Sports. Retrieved 7 August 2011.
- ^ Correspondent (12 October 2009). "Potter refuses to blame video ref". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 7 August 2011.
- ^ Fletcher, Paul (10 October 2009). "St Helens 10-18 Leeds Rhinos". BBC Sport. Retrieved 7 August 2011.
- ^ Richards, Huw (11 October 2009). "Leeds Gets Hat Trick and Place in History Books With Victory". The New York Times. Retrieved 7 August 2011.
- ^ "Third time unlucky as Saints fail to halt Rhinos' charge to title". Liverpool Daily Post. 12 October 2009. Retrieved 7 August 2011.
- ^ "Sinfield hails winning culture". The Daily Mirror. 11 October 2009. Retrieved 7 August 2011.
- ^ Stewart, Rob (12 October 2009). "Lee Smith targets place in England rugby union team after Grand Final victory". The Telegraph. Retrieved 7 August 2011.
- ^ "Sinfield hails historic title win". BBC Sport. 11 October 2009. Retrieved 7 August 2011.
- ^ "Leeds Rhinos fans in homecoming welcome". Yorkshire Evening Post. 12 October 2009. Retrieved 7 August 2011.
- ^ a b c d "Grand Final screened to all four corners of the globe". Super League. 9 October 2009. Retrieved 9 October 2009.