Wigan Warriors vs Hull KR Predictions: Champions heading for all four trophies in 2024

The biggest night of the British rugby league calendar is upon us, with exciting underdogs Hull KR bidding to deny dominant Wigan Warriors yet another Betfred Super League Grand Final win at Old Trafford (kick-of 18:00 BST, live on Sky Sports+ and Sky Sports Main Event from 17:00)

It is one of the most eagerly-anticipated finals in years, but can the newly-crowned Steve Prescott Man of Steel Award winner Mikey Lewis shine on the big stage and lead Rovers to victory against the all-conquering Warriors? Here are my Wigan Warriors vs Hull KR predictions and preview.

Wigan Warriors vs Hull KR Odds

The Warriors are naturally the favourites, having claimed 51 major titles since Rovers won their most recent trophy in 1985. The Warriors are 2/5 for the win, with Rovers 13/5. You can get 16/1 on this being the first Betfred Super League Grand Final to be decided in golden-point extra-time.

Team News

Wigan name an unchanged squad, while Hull KR's only alteration sees captain Elliot Minchella return from suspension, with Oliver Gildart dropping out. Centre Gildart won two Grand Finals with Wigan but after suffering with a rib injury has been left out of the squad altogether.

Jack Broadbent therefore looks set to keep his place in the side, with Tom Opacic the other option. Opacic, Danny Richardson and George King were all named in last week's 21-man squad for the win over Warrington Wolves but did not feature on matchday.

With Minchella certain to start, that will mean heartbreak for either Jack Brown or Matty Storton.

There will be extra emotion for the 17 Robins selected to represent the club too, after the sad death this week of legendary former player Brian Lockwood at the age of 78.

Rugby League Odds

As for Wigan, there are no real issues for the defending champions with head coach Matt Peet again naming a 21-man group full of firepower. The only real concern is over captain Liam Farrell, who has been struggling with a virus and missed last week's comfortable semi-final win over Leigh Leopards.

Other than Farrell there won't be any surprises in a Warriors team that had 20-year-old Junior Nsemba named Super League Young Player of the Year this week.

Wigan have all of the domestic silverware in their trophy cabinet and all of their top players in just the right form and fitness for Grand Final night, which feels ominous for Hull KR. They scored six tries against in-form Leigh last week, and two of those came from forward Sam Walters who may even miss out with Farrell returning. With Bevan French, Jai Field and Liam Marshall all coming into this game in try-scoring form, Old Trafford could be set for fireworks.

Wigan score 1st, lead at HT and win game @ 13/10

Wigan are again the team to beat. Few, including Rovers fans who suffered relegation to the Championship only eight years ago, would say otherwise. The manner in which Peet's side dismantled Leigh in a semi-final derby last week would indicate that not only does this Warriors vintage mean business, it is a side that is still getting better.

So Rovers boss WIllie Peters, the Betfred Super League Coach of the Year who has overseen the emergence of one of the most exciting sides in the British game, has his work cut out. Peters is one of a select few in the Robins party who knows what this will feel like. He played at scrum-half for Wigan in their 2000 Grand Final defeat to St Helens.

Peters will have been buoyed by his side's defensive heroics to weather a Warrington storm and hang on for victory in last weekend's semi-final. In truth they will need to do that again this week and then some. In Man of Steel Lewis, this team has a match-winner. But Lewis was unusually off-colour last week and will need to be at his effervescent best this Saturday night if the England man is to guide his team to a historic first Grand Final win on their Old Trafford debut.

The likes of Grand Final veteran Ryan Hall will need to stand tall too, and if we see a repeat of the most recent meeting between these two sides then we will be in for a treat.

Wigan have won four of the last five meetings with Rovers and are 2-1 up in the three games between the teams this year, with a big Warriors win in the Challenge Cup semi-final a bad memory that Peters' men will need to banish. But that top-of-the-table Super League tussle only last month saw Wigan come from 12-8 down at half-time and overturn a 12-point second-half deficit to win 24-20. That is the kind of contest that the neutrals will be hoping for this weekend.

This Wigan side, though, is an absolute colossus. They have the experience, the players and the big-game know-how. And I just find it impossible to bet against the Warriors becoming the first side to win every honour in a calendar year. With the World Club Challenge, Challenge Cup and League Leaders' Shield already in the bag, it feels inevitable that the Super League trophy will be back in Wigan on Saturday night.

Hull KR can keep this tight. They could make it very interesting, and few Grand Finals end in blowouts. I'm with Wigan though, and if they strike first then my money is on them leading throughout.

Jake Wardle anytime try scorer @ 6/4

In a team from which most weekly headlines go to Liam Marshall, Jai Field or Bevan French, centre Jake Wardle has been one of my unsung heroes of this year's campaign.

When I say unsung, it is not that he has not been recognised. In fact the England centre is the only member of the 2024 Dream Team who kept his place from 2023. It is more that he is consistently getting the job done, while the plaudits often go elsewhere.

The winner of the Harry Sunderland Man of the Match award in last year's Grand Final win, I'm backing the 25-year-old to shine again. His left-edge partnership with top try scorer Liam Marshall is one of the most devastating in the game, and I would be very confident that the Marshall-Wardle combination produces at least one Grand Final try.

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