Grand Final retrospective | Lee Gilmour

Grand Final glory often defines a club’s legacy. Pressure is magnified as a year’s work culminates in 80 minutes of action at the Theatre of Dreams, where rugby league immortality awaits. 

Lee Gilmour knows all about that pressure. He’s performed on the biggest stages and won multiple Grand Finals, Challenge Cups, League Leaders’ Shields and World Club Challenges. He’s played for some of the most formidable teams in the summer era – from winning the inaugural Grand Final with Wigan Warriors, to the rise of Bullmania and the relentless excellence of St Helens.  

As we celebrate 25 years of Super League Grand Finals, we look back at some of the highs and lows of Grand Finals gone by, as told by the players and coaches that have lived it.

In the 24 years since its inception, just four clubs have been crowned Super League Champions - and Lee Gilmour has represented three of them. Born and raised in Yorkshire, Gilmour’s Super League career began across the Pennines in Wigan. There, he was part of history. He played – and won – in the first ever Grand Final.

At the time, Gilmour was in the mere infancy stages of his career but had already experienced the wonders of a Cup Final in the Challenge Cup earlier that season, before playing his part in Grand Final history.

“The first one will always stand out. Being so young, how lucky I was to play in two finals – the Challenge Cup Final and the Grand Final – in the same year. I’d basically played one game the previous year and I think I played every game that year [1998] for Wigan. So that was special. 

“I just remember coming out the tunnel - the stadiums close to the pitch and it’s quite on top of you. It has a feeling of being really enclosed and the atmosphere was unbelievable. 1998 was a bit of a whirlwind – I got to play at the old Wembley and got beat against Sheffield in a massive upset, but then we had the chance to play in the first ever Grand Final after we’ finished top of the league. The times before that, you’d already be crowned winners, so it was a lot different."

The change to how the Champions were determined in rugby league was huge. The Grand Final quickly became the pinnacle of the sport and the result of a tough, arduous journey which ended with a showdown at the Theatre of Dreams. And so, the pressure intensifies. 

A season is on the line and teams must perform until the very end. Ultimately, it comes down to 80 minutes that offer a chance to etch your name in history and be remembered as Super League Champions. And often, people don’t remember second place.

“There’s that extra feeling of pressure because it’s your whole seasons work - there’s a different feeling at the Grand Final. It has that little twist where maybe you haven’t finished first, but you’ve still got that opportunity to be champions. It’s a different spin on what rugby league had always been. It makes for a really good spectacle, and it just adds that little bit more pressure to the game. 

“If you want to be named Champions, that’s the only route you can do it. Without winning the Grand Final and without that ring on your finger – who talks about the runners up???

The pressure and drama of a Grand Final is unrivalled. Iconic moments are engraved in our memories long after the event takes place. Gilmour has experienced the highs and lows of those Grand Final moments – none more so than during his time at Bradford Bulls.

In 2002, Gilmour missed out on Grand Final glory by the smallest of margins – a Sean Long drop-goal to be exact – with the game ending in controversy after St Helens appeared to commit a voluntary tackle that would have handed Bradford a chance to snatch the win. Those split second decisions in the cauldron of Old Trafford can make or break a teams season. 

“I was involved in that tackle. I say that - I was just stood there. Joynt dived on the floor, I stood there with Paul Deacon and we both turned around to the referee and he carried on crawling. The referee obviously didn’t blow anything, so we dropped on him. And that’s when Jimmy Lowes famously went absolutely berserk at Russell Smith. 

“It would’ve been a very big call to penalise it and it was in a kickable spot for Paul Deacon.??

We often romanticise about Grand Final glory. Clubs are revered for their success at Old Trafford and we can often lose sight of what happens before it. 

And that certainly rings true for Gilmour’s time at St Helens. During a period of dominance which saw Saints win four consecutive League Leaders’ Shields between 2005 and 2008, they managed to win the Grand Final just once. A solitary win during a period of unrivalled consistency across the competition perhaps sanitises the memories of a relentless St Helens team. 

But for Gilmour, regardless of results, that St Helens side remains one of the best in the summer era. Even if their Grand Final record doesn’t show it. 

“If you look at the teams in that era, for me, the 2006, 2007 & 2008 Saints team I think is the best team in the Super League era. Bradford were awesome, Leeds were a class team – they pipped us in those Grand Finals.

“We got beat in one game. It does take a bit of shine off, one hundred percent. I find that difficult to get over – it still doesn’t sit well with me now! It’s one of those things you never get over sometimes. But I still think that [Saints] team in that era is the best that the competitions seen.

“I do think about how much effort through all the season it takes just to get there – there’s that much effort and commitment getting there. And then to fall at the last hurdle on those occasions and with that team we had as well. If we could have just got another one, I would have been a lot happier!??

Super League celebrates its 25th Grand Final in 2022 and you can be there to witness the showcase event. Don’t miss out and purchase your tickets now.