Hull KR underline stance as Super League’s premiere side with Grand Final masterclass

Hull KR underlined their position as the superior force in British rugby league with a masterclass against Wigan Warriors to be crowned Super League champions for the first time.

Super League has not had a first-time winner of the competition for over two decades, dating back to Leeds Rhinos’ first triumph in 2004. But Rovers have now joined the pantheon of great sides having completed an unprecedented and historic treble.

Spearheaded by a wonderful and near-flawless display from Mikey Lewis – who is now surely in England’s side for the Ashes this autumn – the Robins proved they belong on the biggest stage by executing their game-plan to near-perfection.

Wigan will look back on this as one of their most disappointing evenings, and had they taken one or both of the glorious opportunities that came their way early on, it could have been a different night altogether.

Both Liam Farrell and Bevan French dropped the ball with the line begging – with French’s in the act of scoring, with Lewis producing a wonderful piece of pressure to deny him.

It was enormous in the grand scheme of things.

The momentum them swung completely when Brad O’Neill was sin-binned for a dangerous tackle on Tyrone May and without him on the field, Hull KR surged into a 10-point lead. They broke the deadlock when Lewis stepped past Farrell to touch down before the Robins worked it left for Joe Burgess to score their second try.

Adam Keighran’s penalty on the stroke of half-time at least got Wigan on the board, and when Harry Smith finished a wonderful move just after the restart, you wondered if a huge comeback from the reigning champions was inevitable.

But the Robins, undeterred by that momentum, hit back. A Wigan error led to Rhyse Martin adding a penalty to make it 12-6, before they went further ahead as a fine piece of play led to Jez Litten starting and finishing a scintillating move.

That made it 18-6 and this Rovers side, now a far different one to the previous groups who have failed on these stages in recent years, had more than enough to close it out – with Burgess’ second late on the seal on a remarkable night.