Grand Final 2023 stats preview

Betfred Super League Grand Final tickets

Catalans Dragons could make history on Saturday Night. If they defeat Wigan Warriors in the Betfred Super League Grand Final, they will lift the trophy for the first time - and become just the fifth club to do so.

The French side came agonisingly close in 2021 in what was their first and only other Betfred Super League Grand Final appearance, but fell short against St Helens.

And winning this time around won't be easy. The Warriors finished top of the pile in 2023 and are a club steeped in history. Victory on Saturday would be Wigan's sixth Super League Grand Final triumph since first lifting the trophy at the inaugural Grand Final in 1998.

If they suffer defeat at Old Trafford on Saturday, the Warriors will extend their own unwanted record of Super League Grand Final losses to seven.

The two sides have never met in a major final. This year alone, however, they have played each other on three separate occasions.

Catalans have been victorious twice against Wigan in 2023, including a big win against the Warriors at Magic Weekend. Wigan avenged that heavy defeat with a dominant display of their own - a 0-34 win on Catalans' home turf.

Head coach Steve McNamara believes his @DragonsOfficiel side have learnt the lessons from their defeat in the 2021 #GrandFinal ? #SuperLeague
— Betfred Super League (@SuperLeague) October 12, 2023

In their previous ten meetings, there has been nothing to split the two sides, with both teams winning five games each.

In total, the Warriors have won 31 Super League meetings against the Dragons - including wins in the 2008, 2011 and 2012 Play-Offs - whilst the Dragons have won 13 times.

Although they have never faced one another in a major final, Wigan's Liam Farrell and Sam Powell have played alongside four Catalans players in previous Super League Grand Finals.

Farrell has played with Michael McIlorum (2010,2013,2015), Sam Tomkins (2010,2013,2018), Tom Davies (2018) and Romain Navarrette (2018), with Powell also playing alongside McIlorum in 2015 and Davies, Navarrete and Tomkins in 2018.

Warriors skipper Liam Farrell has featured in seven Super League Grand Finals - winning four - including a Harry Sunderland trophy winning performance in 2016.

If Farrell is awarded the coveted trophy on Saturday Night, he would join an elite group of just seven other players to win the Harry Sunderland trophy twice - and just the fifth player in the Super League era.

Wigan's Toby King has an unwanted Grand Final record - he has played and lost in two previous Grand Finals, both against his current club whilst playing for Warrington in 2016 and 2018.

Catalans' hooker Michael McIlorum could overtake former Dragons star James Maloney as the oldest player to score in a Grand Final if he crosses for a try or kicks a goal on Saturday Night.

Setting standards & unprecedented impact ?

Ahead of @samtomkins1 final game in Saturday's #GrandFinal, we asked his @DragonsOfficiel teammates & coaches about what makes him so special ?#SuperLeague pic.twitter.com/XENkMDaRdl
— Betfred Super League (@SuperLeague) October 11, 2023

McIlorum still has some way to go before surpassing ex-Warrior Shaun O'Loughlin as the oldest player to take part in a Grand Final. O'loughlin ran out for Wigan against St Helens in the 2020 Grand Final in his final ever game at 38 years and 3 days old.

Elsewhere, Catalans Dragons trio Tyrone May, Mitchell Pearce and Siua Taukeiaho have the chance to join the ranks of players to have won Grand Finals on both sides of the world.

May was a substitute in the Penrith Panthers side that defeated South Sydney Rabbitohs 14-12 in the 2021 NRL Grand Final, Pearce was scrum half in Sydney Roosters' 26-18 win against Manly Sea Eagles in 2013 and Taukeiaho started at prop for Sydney Roosters in a 21-6 triumph against Melbourne Storm in 2018 - and was on the bench in the Roosters' 14-8 victory against Canberra Raiders the following year.

The only Englishman to complete the double is Adrian Morley, who won the NRL Grand Final with Sydney Roosters in 2002 and the Super League Grand Final with Bradford Bulls back in 2005.

Witness the crowning of the 2023 Super League Champions on Saturday Night. Secure your seat at Old Trafford and purchase your tickets here.