2005 Super League Grand Final
15 October 2005 · Old Trafford, Manchester
2005 Super League Grand Final result: Bradford Bulls def. Leeds Rhinos, 15-6, at Old Trafford, Manchester on 15 October 2005.
Sourcing caveat: Attendance has two slightly different figures across sources (65,537 vs 65,728); the more frequently cited Rugby League Project figure is used here. See the finals-series match report for this fixture for a fuller scoring breakdown, including a note on the confirmed but disputed-minute Iestyn Harris drop goal. Round 37 of the finals-series lineups backlog cross-checked this entry against its own independently-researched 2005 Grand Final lineup and found one genuine naming error, now fixed: Bradford's interchange bench listed "Robbie Paul" at number 1, but the player is Robbie Hunter-Paul (his real full surname, confirmed via multiple independent sources including Super League's own site), not a distinct player named Robbie Paul — corrected in place. Every other number, name and position in both team1_lineup and team2_lineup was already fully correct and matched that round's research exactly, needing no further changes.
Result
| Team | Score | |
|---|---|---|
| Winner | Bradford Bulls | 15 |
| Runner-up | Leeds Rhinos | 6 |
Attendance: 65,537
Super League 2005 — full season ladder & finals series
| Pos | Club | P | W | D | L | PF | PA | Diff | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | St Helens | 28 | 23 | 1 | 4 | 1028 | 537 | +491 | 47 |
| 2 | Leeds Rhinos | 28 | 22 | 0 | 6 | 1152 | 505 | +647 | 44 |
| 3 | Bradford Bulls | 28 | 18 | 1 | 9 | 1038 | 684 | +354 | 37 |
| 4 | Warrington Wolves | 28 | 18 | 0 | 10 | 792 | 702 | +90 | 36 |
| 5 | Hull FC | 28 | 15 | 2 | 11 | 756 | 670 | +86 | 32 |
| 6 | London Broncos | 28 | 13 | 2 | 13 | 800 | 718 | +82 | 28 |
| 7 | Wigan Warriors | 28 | 14 | 0 | 14 | 698 | 718 | -20 | 28 |
| 8 | Huddersfield Giants | 28 | 12 | 0 | 16 | 742 | 791 | -49 | 24 |
| 9 | Salford City Reds | 28 | 11 | 0 | 17 | 549 | 732 | -183 | 22 |
| 10 | Wakefield Trinity Wildcats | 28 | 10 | 0 | 18 | 716 | 999 | -283 | 20 |
| 11 | Widnes Vikings | 28 | 6 | 1 | 21 | 598 | 1048 | -450 | 13 |
| 12 | Leigh Centurions | 28 | 2 | 1 | 25 | 445 | 1210 | -765 | 5 |
Qualified for the finals series — top 6 ("Top-Six"/Page play-off format) that season.
Finals series
Elimination Play-off
| Date | Result | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 23 Sep 2005 | Bradford Bulls 44–22 London Broncos | Odsal Stadium, Bradford | 9,167 |
| 24 Sep 2005 | Warrington Wolves 6–40 Hull FC | Halliwell Jones Stadium, Warrington | 12,243 |
Qualifying Semi-Final
| Date | Result | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 Sep 2005 | St Helens 16–19 Leeds Rhinos | Knowsley Road, St Helens | 13,209 |
Elimination Semi-Final
| Date | Result | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Oct 2005 | Bradford Bulls 71–0 Hull FC | Odsal Stadium, Bradford | 13,148 |
Elimination Final
| Date | Result | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 Oct 2005 | St Helens 18–23 Bradford Bulls | Knowsley Road, St Helens | 11,604 |
Grand Final
| Date | Result | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 15 Oct 2005 | Leeds Rhinos 6–15 Bradford Bulls | Old Trafford, Manchester | 65,537 |
Match officials
| Referee | Ashley Klein |
Scorers
| Bradford Bulls | Tries: Leon Pryce — minute unconfirmed; Lesley Vainikolo — minute unconfirmed Goals: Paul Deacon (3/5) Drop goals: Paul Deacon (1) |
| Leeds Rhinos | Tries: Danny McGuire — minute unconfirmed Goals: Kevin Sinfield (1/2) |
Teams
| Bradford Bulls | Leeds Rhinos | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | Michael Withers | Fullback | Richard Mathers | 1 |
| 3 | Leon Pryce | Wing | Mark Calderwood | 2 |
| 13 | Ben Harris | Centre | Chev Walker | 3 |
| 4 | Shontayne Hape | Centre | Chris McKenna | 12 |
| 5 | Lesley Vainikolo | Wing | Marcus Bai | 5 |
| 18 | Iestyn Harris | Stand-off | Danny McGuire | 6 |
| 7 | Paul Deacon | Scrum-half | Rob Burrow | 7 |
| 12 | Jamie Peacock (c) | Prop | Ryan Bailey | 8 |
| 9 | Ian Henderson | Hooker | Andrew Dunemann | 14 |
| 29 | Stuart Fielden | Prop | Danny Ward | 15 |
| 16 | Paul Johnson | Second-row | Gareth Ellis | 20 |
| 10 | Brad Meyers | Second-row | Willie Poching | 16 |
| 11 | Lee Radford | Loose Forward | Kevin Sinfield (c) | 13 |
| Substitutes | ||||
| 1 | Robbie Hunter-Paul | Matt Diskin | 9 | |
| 19 | Jamie Langley | Ali Lauitiiti | 11 | |
| 24 | Adrian Morley | Jamie Jones-Buchanan | 18 | |
| 8 | Joe Vagana | Barrie McDermott | 10 | |
| Brian Noble | Coach | Tony Smith | ||
Harry Sunderland Trophy
Leon Pryce (Bradford Bulls). Pryce won the Harry Sunderland Trophy — Super League's Grand Final Man of the Match award, not renamed the Rob Burrow Award until 2024 — after scoring one of Bradford's two tries.
Match context
Bradford Bulls beat Leeds Rhinos 15-6 at Old Trafford, winning their third Super League Grand Final title in five seasons (after 2001 and 2003) and avenging their loss to Leeds in the previous year's Grand Final. Leon Pryce and Lesley Vainikolo scored Bradford's tries either side of a Danny McGuire reply for Leeds, with a decisive Iestyn Harris drop goal sealing the win. Having finished third in the regular-season table behind St Helens and Leeds, and having already eliminated St Helens in the Elimination Final the previous week, Bradford became the first club to win the Super League Grand Final from third place. Leon Pryce won the Harry Sunderland Trophy. Bradford coach Brian Noble called it "the best team I have ever coached... their heart and their desire, they were just magnificent"; Leeds coach Tony Smith said "Bradford deserved to win. They were hungrier than us and took their opportunities."
Sources
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
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