Betfred Super League Grand Final preview

Bevan French is odds on to make it a fantastic double this weekend when he has the chance to lead Wigan to glory in the Betfred Super League Grand Final.

Bevan French is odds on to make it a fantastic double this weekend when he has the chance to lead Wigan to glory in the Betfred Super League Grand Final.

The Aussie was awarded with the 2023 Steve Prescott MBE Man of Steel award on Tuesday for his stunning performances throughout the campaign and will look to pick up his second trophy of the week at the Theatre of Dreams on Saturday.

The 2023 final sees league leaders Wigan Warriors and runners-up Catalans Dragons face off in the final showdown at Old Trafford, in a 6pm kick off.

Five-time Grand Final winners Wigan are favourites to lift the trophy with Betfred after their emphatic 42-12 victory over Hull KR in the semi-final.

A hat-trick from Liam Marshall on his 150^th appearance helped the 22-time league winners make it through at the DW to set up this mouthwatering tie.

Matt Peet’s men are looking to pick up their first Super League title since 2018, in only his second season at the helm, with Peet looking for his second trophy at the club, after winning the 2022 Challenge Cup in his first year in charge.

It goes without saying that Wigan’s main danger man is the 2023 Man of Steel Bevan French, but another man Catalans will have to watch out for is Lebanese international Abbas Miski, who has emerged this year as one of the competition's biggest try-scoring threats, and this is reflected in the odds at Betfred, with Miski being joint-favourite along with Liam Marshall to score the first try of the match.

As for Wigan’s opponents, Catalans Dragons, they will be looking to defy the odds and pick up their first-ever Super League title.

To make it to this stage the team from France made it past 10-time winners St Helens in the semi-final, defeating Saints 12-6 in Perpignan, with retiring Dragons full-back Sam Tomkins scoring the game-clinching try in that one, to keep his hopes of a fairytale ending to his career alive.

The league’s French representatives could make history again, after becoming the first overseas side to win the Challenge Cup back in 2018 and the first to lift the League Leaders’ Shield in 2021.

Steve McNamara’s men will also be looking to avenge their narrow Grand Final defeat to St Helens just two years ago.

The aforementioned Sam Tomkins will have to bring his A-game if his side are to have any chance of lifting the trophy, with the 34-year-old proving he still has plenty to give in Friday’s semi-final. Tomkins is second favourite with Betfred to pick up the Man of the Match award in the final behind Wigan’s Bevan French.

Despite Wigan being the favourites with Betfred, Catalans have been victorious over their opponents in two out of the three occasions the sides have met this year, with a 18-10 victory at the DW followed by a 46-22 triumph at the Magic Weekend. Though the one defeat did come most recently, with Wigan’s 34-0 thrashing of the Dragons taking place in August at the Brutus Stadium.

With both sides finishing in the top two spots in the regular season, Saturday’s final seems like a fitting end to what has been an enthralling Betfred Super League season. Will Wigan pick up their sixth Grand Final victory, or will Catalans make history and win their very first? That remains to be seen, but what’s for certain is that this one should be a cracker.