Late Jack Welsby try wins Super League Grand Final for St Helens v Wigan Warriors
ByReuters
Updated 27/11/2020 at 23:34 GMT
The youngest player in the side chased down a Tommy Makinson drop goal that had hit a post and rebounded back into play. Welsby reacted quicker than the Wigan defence and was rewarded with a try that secured their second successive title. The win ensured Saints prop James Graham would head into retirement in perfect fashion.
St Helens celebrate Grand Final win vs Wigan Warriors, KCOM Stadium, Hull, November 27, 2020
Image credit: Getty Images
Teenager Jack Welsby scored a stunning try after the full-time hooter to give St Helens an 8-4 victory over Wigan Warriors in a thrilling end to the Super League Grand Final on Friday as they won their second successive title.
Lachlan Coote had scored with two kicks either side of a Jake Bibby try for Wigan, but with the clock running down at the KCOM Stadium in Hull, the two sides were still locked at 4-4 after battling their way through an enthralling encounter.
Tommy Makinson launched a last-ditch drop goal to try to break the deadlock for St Helens, which came moments after Zak Hardaker's penalty for Wigan fell short and allowed Saints to spring into an attack. His kick hit a post but Welsby reacted first, speeding in to touch the ball down and steal the victory for St Helens as the Wigan players looked on stunned.
"It was unreal. It just shows you don't give up on any play. A young kid playing his first Grand Final and he's a real player for the future," St Helens head coach Kristian Woolf said of the 19-year-old Welsby.
"To score a try like that to win a Grand Final, it doesn't get much better than that."
Wigan captain Sean O'Loughlin, who was playing in his last game before retirement, was devastated at the end after his side's superb defensive display in a final for the ages.
"It was unbelievable to be part of, but it's a shame how it ended. It's gutting but that's sport," he said.
"I thought it was an unbelievable game. There's nothing we can do about it now, it's done. We can't have too many regrets, it happens."
While it was not a fairytale finish for O’Loughlin, it was for retiring prop James Graham after he had returned to St Helens earlier in the season following a long spell playing in Australia.
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