Charnley bids Wigan very grand farewell
OLD TRAFFORD proved to be the theatre of Josh Charnley’s wildest dreams.
On his final game in rugby league, the Wigan winger scored the winning try to bid a grand farewell in the Grand Final.
Coming back from 6-2 down against Warrington, Charnley collected Dan Sarginson’s kick in the 63rd minute to score in his last outing before his code switch to Sale Sharks.
‘When I signed for Sale I said I wanted to finish with some silverware and what a way to finish,’ he said. ‘I’ve grown at this club. I’ve been here many years and it’s like a family. It’s going to be an emotional night but I’m looking forward to the next challenge now.’
With Stuart Pearce — a close friend of Wolves coach Tony Smith — watching from the stands, the tone was set inside 10 seconds. Ashton Sims ran the ball from the kickoff and, on the receiving end of a tackle that Pearce would be proud of, was left with an imprint of Frank-Paul Nu’uausala’s shoulder on his ribs.
Early on, Kurt Gidley tested the Wigan back-three with his sky-high kicking, pinning back the Cherry and Whites. But after eight minutes, when Joe Westerman was penalised for holding, the Warriors took the lead as Matty Smith kicked a smashand-grab two pointer.
For Charnley, this Grand Final represented his grand farewell from the 13-man code. Twelve years after arriving at Wigan’s academy as a lightweight teenager, the winger will follow in the footsteps of Jason Robinson and join union’s Sale Sharks.
And the 25-year-old thought he had scored the first try of the game. Following a 40-20 kick by Smith, George Williams and Liam Farrell combined, but the final pass from Anthony Gelling drifted forward, denying Charnley a dream start. The Warriors were left to rue their inaccuracies.
Moments later, Charnley knocked on under the high ball. Warrington may have scored more points than any other side in this year’s Super League but, here, Charnley was let off as Ryan Atkins fumbled with the try-line begging.
The errors continued in Wigan’s own half.
After snatching back possession, Declan Patton capitalised. The scrum-half sold a left-hand dummy to John Bateman and sniped through for the opening try for Warrington.
His side almost doubled their lead but Jack Hughes, against his former club, knocked on over the line.
Having been sent off inside two minutes here in 2014 for punching Lance Hohaia, Wigan prop Ben Flower made another early depar- ture with a hand injury, before returning in the second half. And with six first teamers already missing to injury, including Sam Tomkins, Joel Tomkins and Michael McIlorum, the Warriors turned to the experience of semi-fit skipper Sean O’Loughlin — who had been absent since August — from the bench after 26 minutes. Lewis Tierney looked like the most likely Wigan player to break through, but was hauled down by the fifth tackle. The son of union’s 2003 World Cup winner Jason Robinson, Tierney was following in the footsteps of his father, who played in the 1998 Grand Final before switching codes. Then the game swung inside two second-half minutes. Warrington supporters were celebrating as Atkins crashed over the line, but his score was ruled out and, with an instant riposte, Wigan charged downfield.
With 56 minutes on the clock, Williams and Farrell again combined in midfield, with the second-row providing the final pass for Oliver Gildart to bring the score level.
Throughout the season, Wigan have perfected the art of the comeback in the final quarter. And it was the two players on their final appearance — Sarginson and Charnley — who paired up to complete the comeback and give Warriors a fourpoint lead.
Sarginson threaded a short grubber kick through to the corner and, picking the ball from above his head, Charnley adjusted his body position to touch down in front of his own fans. Then Smith kicked a penalty in the 74th minute to extend the advantage to six points, rounding off Charnley’s perfect night at the Theatre of Dreams.
‘I never knew how good this was going to feel,’ said Sarginson. ‘We’ve had so many injuries, these blokes are the best I’ve played with. I saw Josh Charnley in space and just smashed it.’
Farrell said: ‘Every Grand Final is unique, we’ve written our own story, we’ve had so much adversity and wanted to put it right.
‘To do what we’ve done is something really special. Defence has pulled us out of games all year, we’ve ground out wins and tonight the lads really stuck to it.’
The victorious Wigan coach Shaun Wane added: ‘The Warrington players and club are a champion club. They made it special.
‘I’m really proud of what we’ve done, it speaks volumes for our toughness. This is best ever.’