2002 Super League Grand Final
19 October 2002 · Old Trafford, Manchester
2002 Super League Grand Final result: St Helens def. Bradford Bulls, 19-18, at Old Trafford, Manchester on 19 October 2002.
Sourcing caveat: See the finals-series match report for this fixture for a fuller scoring breakdown, including confirmation that both sides' single goal-kickers (Long for St Helens, Deacon for Bradford) kicked all their team's goals. No verified direct post-match coach quotes could be located in the sources checked for this Grand Final.
Result
| Team | Score | |
|---|---|---|
| Winner | St Helens | 19 |
| Runner-up | Bradford Bulls | 18 |
Attendance: 61,138
Super League 2002 — full season ladder & finals series
| Pos | Club | P | W | D | L | PF | PA | Diff | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | St Helens | 28 | 23 | 0 | 5 | 927 | 522 | +405 | 46 |
| 2 | Bradford Bulls | 28 | 23 | 0 | 5 | 910 | 519 | +391 | 46 |
| 3 | Wigan Warriors | 28 | 19 | 1 | 8 | 817 | 475 | +342 | 39 |
| 4 | Leeds Rhinos | 28 | 17 | 0 | 11 | 865 | 700 | +165 | 34 |
| 5 | Hull FC | 28 | 16 | 0 | 12 | 742 | 674 | +68 | 32 |
| 6 | Castleford Tigers | 28 | 14 | 2 | 12 | 736 | 615 | +121 | 30 |
| 7 | Widnes Vikings | 28 | 14 | 1 | 13 | 590 | 716 | -126 | 29 |
| 8 | London Broncos | 28 | 13 | 1 | 14 | 661 | 635 | +26 | 27 |
| 9 | Halifax Blue Sox | 28 | 8 | 0 | 20 | 558 | 856 | -298 | 16 |
| 10 | Warrington Wolves | 28 | 7 | 0 | 21 | 483 | 878 | -395 | 14 |
| 11 | Wakefield Trinity Wildcats | 28 | 5 | 2 | 21 | 566 | 899 | -333 | 12 |
| 12 | Salford City Reds | 28 | 5 | 1 | 22 | 490 | 856 | -366 | 11 |
Qualified for the finals series — top 6 ("Top-Six"/Page play-off format) that season.
Finals series
Elimination Play-off
| Date | Result | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 27 Sep 2002 | Leeds Rhinos 36–22 Hull FC | Headingley, Leeds | 12,123 |
| 28 Sep 2002 | Wigan Warriors 26–14 Castleford Tigers | JJB Stadium, Wigan | 8,381 |
Qualifying Semi-Final
| Date | Result | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 Oct 2002 | St Helens 26–28 Bradford Bulls | Knowsley Road, St Helens | 15,100 |
Elimination Semi-Final
| Date | Result | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 Oct 2002 | Wigan Warriors 41–18 Leeds Rhinos | JJB Stadium, Wigan | 13,157 |
Elimination Final
| Date | Result | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 Oct 2002 | St Helens 24–8 Wigan Warriors | Knowsley Road, St Helens | 15,100 |
Grand Final
| Date | Result | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 19 Oct 2002 | St Helens 19–18 Bradford Bulls | Old Trafford, Manchester | 61,138 |
Match officials
| Referee | Russell Smith |
Scorers
| St Helens | Tries: Mike Bennett — minute unconfirmed; Martin Gleeson — minute unconfirmed; Sean Long — minute unconfirmed Goals: Sean Long (3/UNCONFIRMED) Drop goals: Sean Long (1) |
| Bradford Bulls | Tries: Robbie Hunter-Paul — minute unconfirmed; Scott Naylor — minute unconfirmed; Michael Withers — minute unconfirmed Goals: Paul Deacon (3/UNCONFIRMED) |
Teams
| St Helens | Bradford Bulls | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Paul Wellens | Fullback | Michael Withers | 6 |
| 5 | Darren Albert | Wing | Tevita Vaikona | 2 |
| 3 | Martin Gleeson | Centre | Scott Naylor | 20 |
| 4 | Paul Newlove | Centre | Brandon Costin | 15 |
| 19 | Anthony Stewart | Wing | Lesley Vainikolo | 5 |
| 13 | Paul Sculthorpe | Five-eighth | Robbie Hunter-Paul | 1 |
| 7 | Sean Long | Halfback | Paul Deacon | 7 |
| 8 | Darren Britt | Front row | Joe Vagana | 8 |
| 9 | Keiron Cunningham | Hooker | James Lowes | 9 |
| 10 | Barry Ward | Front row | Stuart Fielden | 29 |
| 23 | Mike Bennett | Second row | Daniel Gartner | 11 |
| 15 | Tim Jonkers | Second row | Jamie Peacock | 12 |
| 11 | Chris Joynt (c) | Lock | Mike Forshaw (c) | 13 |
| Substitutes | ||||
| 2 | Sean Hoppe | Leon Pryce | 3 | |
| 17 | Mick Higham | Lee Gilmour | 14 | |
| 14 | John Stankevitch | Paul Anderson | 10 | |
| 12 | Peter Shiels | Brian McDermott | 22 | |
| Ian Millward | Coach | Brian Noble | ||
Harry Sunderland Trophy
Paul Deacon (Bradford Bulls). Deacon won the Harry Sunderland Trophy — Super League's Grand Final Man of the Match award, not renamed the Rob Burrow Award until 2024 — despite playing for the losing side, a notable rarity for the award.
Match context
St Helens beat Bradford Bulls 19-18 at Old Trafford, winning their third Super League title in four seasons, in a classic decider settled by a Sean Long drop goal with around a minute left, after Long had levelled the scores at 18-18 with a penalty goal shortly before. This was a rematch of the 2001 Grand Final pairing; Bradford, who had won that decider, went on to beat Wigan Warriors in 2003 for their second title, meaning St Helens' 2002 win sits between Bradford's 2001 and 2003 triumphs in this era's title sequence. Paul Deacon won the Harry Sunderland Trophy for Bradford despite finishing on the losing side.
Sources
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
← All Super League & British Champions
← Rugby League · All-time records · Grand Final results · World Cup · All competitions · Venues · Teams · Players