The 2002 Super League Grand Final was the Fifth official Grand Final and conclusive and championship-deciding game of Super League VII. Held on Saturday 19 October 2002 at Old Trafford, Manchester, the game was played between St. Helens and Bradford Bulls. Refereed by Russell Smith, the match was seen by a crowd of 61,138 and was won by St Helens 19 - 18.
Background
TeamPldWDLPFPAPDPts1 St Helens282305927522+405462 Bradford Bulls282305910519+39146
Route to the Final St Helens St Helens, by finishing top of the table automatically qualified for the play-off semi-final where they were drawn at home to Bradford. A surprising loss saw Saints have to go the long route to the grand final by playing bitter rivals Wigan Warriors in the elimination semi-final; a match they won 24–8 to set up another game against Bradford.
+ St Helens Round Opposition Score Semi Final Bradford Bulls (H) 26–28 Elimination Semi-Final Wigan Warriors (H) 24–8 Key: (H) = Home venue; (A) = Away venue.
Bradford Bulls Bradford as the team finishing second in the season also qualified for the play-off semi-final where they had to travel to St Helens. A close fought game saw Bradford win 28–26 to go straight through to the grand final.
Match details
Bradford BullsPositionSt Helens1 Michael WithersFullback1 Paul Wellens2 Tevita VaikonaWing2 Darren Albert3 Scott NaylorCentre3 Martin Gleeson4 Brandon CostinCentre4 Paul Newlove5 Lesley VainikoloWing5 Anthony Stewart6 Robbie PaulStad Off6 Paul Sculthorpe7 Paul DeaconScrum half7 Sean Long Joe VaganaProp Darren Britt9 James LowesFullback9 Keiron Cunningham10 Stuart FieldenProp Barry Ward Daniel GartnerSecond Row Mike Bennett11 Jamie PeacockSecond Row Tim Jonkers Mike ForshawLoose forward13 Chris Joynt Leon PryceInterchange Sean Hoppe Lee Gilmour Mickey Higham Paul Anderson John Stankevitch Brian McDermott Peter Shiels Brian NobleCoaches Ian Millward
References
2002 Super League Grand Final at rlphotos.com