Will it ever be Warrington’s year? Wolves suffer fifth Grand Final defeat

Warrington Wolves were beaten 23-10 by Wakefield Trinity in Saturday evening’s Super League Grand Final at Old Trafford.

Live from the press box, our Wire conclusions…

Is it ever going to be their year?

Everyone knows how the famous chant goes, but seriously, this question has got to be asked now.

It felt like if the Wolves were ever going to win a Grand Final, it would be this one – not against Wigan nor Leeds, but Wakefield.

And we write that with all the respect in the world for Trinity, who are evidently an emerging Super League force.

But after five Grand Final defeats now, when will Warrington get a better chance than this to win one? If it wasn’t already, Old Trafford has become the theatre of nightmares for them. They just didn’t turn up here.

Attacking shape under scrutiny

Wakefield’s pack is the best in Super League, and there are very, very few sides who have had success by trying to beat them up the middle this year.

Yet that’s exactly what Warrington did for far too long in this Grand Final… why?!

The couple of times that Ewan Irwin managed to spread the ball out wide with a loop pass, Arron Lindop got in for their only two tries of the night.

Honestly, the mind boggles.

Not a fitting farewell

Some of Wire’s longest-serving players have played their last game for the club, and this was far from the way they’d have wanted to bow out.

Toby King and Joe Philbin are off to London Broncos next year, with both having given over a decade of service in the primrose and blue.

They’ll be hurting badly here, as will skipper George Williams, who in the build-up admitted he’d never been more desperate to win a game more.

That hasn’t happened, so his time with Wire ends without a single piece of silverware. He heads back to the NRL with the Dolphins in 2027, but before that, he’ll have to get his head back in the right place to captain England at the World Cup.

And a mention must also go to an absolute stalwart of the game in Sam Powell, whose career didn’t get the fairytale ending it may have deserved. He hangs up his boots now to join the Wolves’ coaching team.

For all of those departing stars and everyone connected to Warrington, it’s bound to be a long off-season with plenty of soul searching needed.