Saints will face the Salford Red Devils at Old Trafford on Saturday evening with a 6pm kick off and we have everything you need to know right here in our match preview.
The Story
Saints will be featuring in our 11th Grand Final (the most by any Super League side) whilst this will be Salford’s first ever appearance at Old Trafford.
We were crowned League Leaders Shield winners in early August, the first team to win back-to-back titles since ourselves in 2007 and 2008 and with that Saints finished with a record points lead of 16 ahead of second placed Wigan and 18 ahead of third placed Salford Red Devils.
The two sides have faced each other twice in the regular season. The first meeting between the two was on the 28th February at the AJ Bell Stadium, with the redvee scoring five tries in a 26-4 win, including a brace by skipper James Roby. The second meeting just under three months later was a lot closer. Salford led 30-16 however, Lachlan Coote completed his first Saints hat-trick, before Tommy Makinson reduced the deficit to four points. James Bentley then scored in the last minute to level the scores, before Coote gave us the win by kicking the extra two.
The ‘Royle’ seal of approval 👑
We’ve seen your messages of support @SalfordDevils but “hey hey hey heyyyyyyyy” we’ve had this from one of our biggest fans ahead of the @SuperLeague Grand Final! 📺 🙌
Tickets 👉 https://t.co/YV9Ul1noTd 🎟️#saintsandproud pic.twitter.com/r8Q6Vd3K65
— St.Helens R.F.C. (@Saints1890) October 10, 2019
The two sides have met 46 times in the Super League era, Saints winning 40 of them, whilst Salford have won the other six. Our biggest winning margin over the Greater Manchester side came in 2000, as we won 58-4 at the Willows. We equalled that margin last season, as we won 60-10 at the AJ Bell Stadium. Saturday night’s opponents did manage to beat us 44-10 back in 2016, which is their biggest ever victory over the Saints.
Grand Finalists
Between the two sides there are 13 players who have featured in a Grand Final in the past, four from Salford – Gil Dudson, Lee Mossop, Josh Jones and Mark Flanagan – with Jones and Flanagan part of the 2014 winning Saints side.
There are nine past Grand Finalists from the Saints – James Roby, Jonny Lomax, Tommy Makinson. Louie-McCarthy Scarsbrook, Alex Walmsley, Adam Swift, Mark Percival, Kyle Amor & Luke Thompson.
Career Milestones
Four players can hit career milestones should they feature in the Grand Final on Saturday evening. Kyle Amor could make his 300th career appearance should he feature. The Cumbrian forward has played 167 times for the Saints since arriving from Wakefield in 2014. Skipper, James Roby, could make his 450th Saints appearance at Old Trafford. The one club man made his redvee debut against the Widnes Vikings in 2004.
Logan Tomkins could make his 200th career appearance for Salford if he plays, 136 of his 199 so far have come for the Red Devils. Teammate Krisnan Inu needs 13 points to have scored 1,000 in his career. The centre will likely be on goal-kicking duties for our opponents on Saturday night.
Team News and pre-match interviews
Both sides’ have named their 19-man squad for the match as Justin Holbrook opts for the same team that defeated Wigan in the Semi Final.
Jonny Lomax believes the atmosphere will be electric on Saturday whilst Kevin Naiqama is hoping to top off a ‘dream’ debut season with a Grand Final ring.
Captain James Roby says it will be a proud moment to lead Saints out at Old Trafford.
The Man in the middle
The referee for our clash tonight is Chris Kendall with the video referee being Ben Thaler.
Fan Guide
CLICK HERE FOR THE FAN GUIDE FOR ALL YOUR PRE-MATCH ENTERTAINMENT
Any bags LARGER than 8x6x2 inches or A5 will NOT be allowed to enter the ground. Please see directional information as well as travel and site maps of Old Trafford and a full list of prohibited items that cannot be taken into the stadium here. You can also view further travel information here.
🏉 @Saints1890 vs. @SalfordDevils 👹
📅 Saturday 12 October
⏰ 6pmCheck out our travel advice: https://t.co/lw6tfTObXN pic.twitter.com/gJhTQLgDjn
— TfGM (@OfficialTfGM) October 10, 2019
Tickets?
Tickets are still available online up until approximately 3pm on Friday. After this point tickets must be purchased from the Manchester United Ticket Office on match day with the ticket office opening at 9am Saturday.
Fans have until 2pm tomorrow (Sat 12 Oct) to collect their Grand Final Tickets from the Ticket Office at the Totally Wicked Stadium.
How to follow the action
Supporters can also follow live score updates and behind-the-scenes coverage on our social media channels and minute by minute updates from 6pm here on Saintsrlfc.com. Just head to the homepage and click on the match centre image.
