Finalists Wigan and Hull KR offer blueprint for success
· BBC SportMatt Newsum
BBC Sport Rugby League journalist
Super League Grand Final: Wigan Warriors v Hull KR
Venue: Old Trafford Date: Saturday, 12 October Kick-off: 18:00 BST Coverage: Commentary on BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds, live text on the BBC Sport website and app; highlights on BBC Two at 14:50 on Sunday, 13 October and on BBC iPlayer.
Saturday's Super League Grand Final between Wigan Warriors and Hull KR is the perfect example of how getting things right off the field can stimulate on-field growth.
It is a case study in being sustainable, being present in your community and being shrewd with your recruitment.
And, in this case, it all still adds up to sporting excellence and a Grand Final to savour in terms of the quality on show.
Reigning champions Wigan have been a vanguard of how to 'do it right' for some time. Already a rugby league heavyweight through years of success, under chief executive Kris Radlinski - a former star - they have not rested on their laurels and the rewards have been evident.
Their opponents at Old Trafford, Hull KR, have made great strides too.
They sought to assemble a board of multiple talents in terms of business and industry, acquiring specific skills for marketing and revenue, again with a chief executive in Paul Lakin taking the lead.
Yet, they have been equally astute on the footballing side. Expertise on and off the field.
The blueprint is there for all to see.
The perfect match-up
While the business acumen of both clubs can be appreciated and has certainly positioned these two sides to take part in this huge fixture, it is the quality on the field that whets the appetite.
Almost every position brings together a meeting of substance, but nowhere quite like in the halves where two of the game's most entertaining characters will be in the spotlight.
Mikey Lewis comes into Saturday's final for Hull KR as the 2024 Steve Prescott MBE Man of Steel, following a season of terrorising defences and wowing crowds with his devilish steps, array of tricks and mesmerising footwork.
He racked up 24 assists and 19 tries, as well as showing new-found maturity all without losing that little edge of spikiness which all the best players need.
It was fitting that he inherited the award from Wigan playmaker Bevan French, who but for injury which ruled him out of a chunk of the campaign, would have surely challenged to retain the crown.
French's magnificence comes in many forms. Like Lewis he is a creator with 14 assists for his array of team-mates, and equally a finisher with 16 tries - 22 in all competitions.
What both players possess is that ability to draw something from nothing. Seemingly magical powers, and proof that rugby league is more than physicality and brute strength.
The two loose-forwards, in Wigan's Kaide Ellis and the Robins' Elliot Minchella, epitomise the mix of brains and brawn required in modern rugby league. They can pass, hit and lead with authority in equal measure.
Wigan organisation key to success
Radlinski has proven himself as adept at running a rugby league club as he did running through defences in his decorated career as an elite full-back.
Having soaked up some of Wigan's greatest moments during the tail-end of their winter-era dynasty and later as they showed their Super League prowess in the switch to summer, the 48-year-old knew what it took to achieve success.
His fingerprints can be seen heavily across some of the club's recent ventures; it was he who triggered the Las Vegas adventure in 2025 and got the NRL on board to see Wigan and Warrington play as part of that showpiece event.
Robin Park, their training-ground home, has become an open-house base with the welcome equally as extended to the women, wheelchair, learning disability and physical disability teams as the first team.
But perhaps Wigan's most impressive play was recruiting head coach Matt Peet.
Wigan have been a club that has happily recruited from within. Australian coach Michael Maguire was brought in in 2010 to establish a hard-nosed culture and Shaun Wane was his dedicated assistant.
Once Maguire left to fulfil his NRL ambitions, Wane was subsequently promoted to the top job and was to continue the legacy.
Peet enjoyed a similar trajectory, working his way through a number of roles and a spell in rugby union to succeed Adrian Lam after the 2021 season.
His even-keel nature, thoughtfulness and ability to draw on the expertise of others have allowed him to navigate Wigan to success.
And boy, what success. Two Challenge Cups, two League Leaders' Shields, a World Club Challenge win over four-in-a-row premiers Penrith, and a Grand Final. Soon, they hope in Wigan, to become two.
Players love his manner, he believes in the collective and has sold that to his players. Never too high, never too low. But always on.
Peet trusts in youth, and has been rewarded. Brad O'Neill, Zach Eckersley and perhaps the most impressive young player in the country Junior Nsemba have all thrived under his guidance and pay tribute to his coaching.
His side has lifted trophy after trophy, enviably. But it is success built on humility and hard work.
Peters appointment the Robins' sea change
Such is the buzz at Hull KR these days, even pop-rockers Coldplay have opted to sample the East Stand atmosphere by booking a couple of dates to play at Sewell Group Craven Park in August 2025.
It is just another example of how the club have thought outside the box, far beyond the realms of a rugby league organisation.
Ventures such as Craven Str-eat, a selection of food outlets and bars plus musical entertainment have turned a seemingly unusable space behind the posts at the south end of the ground into a buzzing pre and post-match destination for fans to congregate and enjoy.
Attendances have rocketed with a new average attendance record in 2024 in excess of 9,000. That has clearly required more than some tasty snack offerings, it has been in tandem with impressive form on the field.
Willie Peters' arrival as head coach in 2023 took the good work of Tim Sheens and Tony Smith, turbo-boosting progress with his accessible yet demanding approach.
Peters is a hard taskmaster in terms of application from his players, but equally has generated a great team spirit to match to the work ethic - and it won him the Coach of the Year for 2024.
The matured improvement of Lewis, the emergence of Minchella as leader and international player, the revitalisation of Jai Whitbread and Kelepi Tanginoa - the evidence of his coaching is tangible.
After reaching the Challenge Cup final in 2023, the Robins have now finished in their highest position since 1985 and are into their first Grand Final.
Whatever happens on the night at Old Trafford, with a multi-faceted, multi-skilled board, the passion and investment of Neil Hudgell, and a talented squad led by Peters, it ought not to be the last big occasion for those in the east of Hull.