2008 Super League Grand Final
4 October 2008 · Old Trafford, Manchester
2008 Super League Grand Final result: Leeds Rhinos def. St Helens, 24-16, at Old Trafford, Manchester on 4 October 2008.
Sourcing caveat: See the finals-series match report for this fixture for a fuller scoring breakdown and its own sourcing notes, including how an initial research pass's non-reconciling scorer list was corrected via a dedicated follow-up verification pass. Leeds' starting back three previously carried mismatched shirt numbers here (Lee Smith as 1, Ryan Hall as 2, Scott Donald as 22) — cross-checked against the independently-researched finals-series entry for this same match (round 34 of the lineups backlog) and corrected to Smith 5 (his existing wing number, kept after switching to fullback to cover the injured Brent Webb), Hall 22 (his genuine number coming into the side) and Donald 2, which now match St Helens' side, which was already correct.
Result
| Team | Score | |
|---|---|---|
| Winner | Leeds Rhinos | 24 |
| Runner-up | St Helens | 16 |
Attendance: 68,810
Super League 2008 — full season ladder & finals series
| Pos | Club | P | W | D | L | PF | PA | Diff | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | St Helens | 27 | 21 | 1 | 5 | 940 | 457 | +483 | 43 |
| 2 | Leeds Rhinos | 27 | 21 | 0 | 6 | 863 | 413 | +450 | 42 |
| 3 | Catalans Dragons | 27 | 16 | 2 | 9 | 694 | 625 | +69 | 34 |
| 4 | Wigan Warriors | 27 | 13 | 3 | 11 | 648 | 698 | -50 | 29 |
| 5 | Bradford Bulls | 27 | 14 | 0 | 13 | 705 | 625 | +80 | 28 |
| 6 | Warrington Wolves | 27 | 14 | 0 | 13 | 690 | 713 | -23 | 28 |
| 7 | Hull Kingston Rovers | 27 | 11 | 1 | 15 | 564 | 713 | -149 | 23 |
| 8 | Wakefield Trinity Wildcats | 27 | 11 | 0 | 16 | 574 | 760 | -186 | 22 |
| 9 | Harlequins RL | 27 | 11 | 0 | 16 | 569 | 763 | -194 | 22 |
| 10 | Huddersfield Giants | 27 | 10 | 1 | 16 | 638 | 681 | -43 | 21 |
| 11 | Hull FC | 27 | 8 | 1 | 18 | 538 | 699 | -161 | 17 |
| 12 | Castleford Tigers | 27 | 7 | 1 | 19 | 593 | 869 | -276 | 15 |
Qualified for the finals series — top 6 ("Top-Six"/Page play-off format) that season.
Finals series
Elimination Play-off
| Date | Result | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 Sep 2008 | Wigan Warriors 30–14 Bradford Bulls | JJB Stadium, Wigan | 6,806 |
| 13 Sep 2008 | Catalans Dragons 46–8 Warrington Wolves | Stade Gilbert Brutus, Perpignan | 8,442 |
Qualifying Semi-Final
| Date | Result | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 19 Sep 2008 | St Helens 38–10 Leeds Rhinos | Knowsley Road, St Helens | 11,407 |
Elimination Semi-Final
| Date | Result | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20 Sep 2008 | Catalans Dragons 26–50 Wigan Warriors | Stade Gilbert Brutus, Perpignan | 9,985 |
Elimination Final
| Date | Result | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 26 Sep 2008 | Leeds Rhinos 18–14 Wigan Warriors | Headingley, Leeds | 13,112 |
Grand Final
| Date | Result | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 Oct 2008 | Leeds Rhinos 24–16 St Helens | Old Trafford, Manchester | 68,810 |
Match officials
| Referee | Ashley Klein |
Scorers
| Leeds Rhinos | Tries: Danny McGuire — minute unconfirmed; Danny McGuire — minute unconfirmed; Ryan Hall — minute unconfirmed; Lee Smith — minute unconfirmed Goals: Kevin Sinfield (4/4) |
| St Helens | Tries: Ade Gardner — minute unconfirmed; Matthew Gidley — minute unconfirmed; James Graham — minute unconfirmed Goals: Sean Long (2/3) |
Teams
| Leeds Rhinos | St Helens | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | Lee Smith | Fullback | Paul Wellens | 1 |
| 22 | Ryan Hall | Wing | Ade Gardner | 2 |
| 19 | Carl Ablett | Centre | Matthew Gidley | 3 |
| 4 | Keith Senior | Centre | Willie Talau | 4 |
| 2 | Scott Donald | Wing | Francis Meli | 5 |
| 6 | Danny McGuire | Stand-off | Leon Pryce | 6 |
| 7 | Rob Burrow | Scrum-half | Sean Long | 7 |
| 8 | Kylie Leuluai | Prop | James Graham | 17 |
| 9 | Matt Diskin | Hooker | Keiron Cunningham (c) | 9 |
| 10 | Jamie Peacock | Prop | Bryn Hargreaves | 18 |
| 11 | Jamie Jones-Buchanan | Second Row | Lee Gilmour | 11 |
| 12 | Gareth Ellis | Second Row | Jon Wilkin | 12 |
| 13 | Kevin Sinfield (c) | Loose Forward | Chris Flannery | 30 |
| Substitutes | ||||
| 14 | Ali Lauitiiti | James Roby | 14 | |
| 16 | Ryan Bailey | Nick Fozzard | 8 | |
| 17 | Nick Scruton | Paul Clough | 28 | |
| 18 | Ian Kirke | Maurie Fa'asavalu | 23 | |
| Brian McClennan | Coach | Daniel Anderson | ||
Harry Sunderland Trophy
Lee Smith (Leeds Rhinos). Smith won the Harry Sunderland Trophy — Super League's Grand Final Man of the Match award, not renamed the Rob Burrow Award until 2024 — having switched from wing to full-back that season to cover the injured Brent Webb.
Match context
Leeds Rhinos beat St Helens 24-16 at Old Trafford, the season's largest crowd (68,810), to retain their title — becoming only the second club (after St Helens) to win back-to-back Super League Grand Finals. Leeds, the defending champions, led 12-6 at half-time and held on through a tense second period against League Leaders' Shield winners St Helens, who had finished top of the table but lost their Grand Final defence for a second time in three years. Danny McGuire scored twice for Leeds, with Lee Smith and Ryan Hall adding further tries and Kevin Sinfield converting all four; Ade Gardner, Matthew Gidley and James Graham replied for St Helens, with Sean Long landing 2 of 3 goals. Lee Smith — who had switched from wing to full-back to cover the injured Brent Webb — won the Harry Sunderland Trophy for Man of the Match. It was the final Grand Final played under the "Top-Six"/"Page" playoff format, before Super League switched to the larger "Top-Eight" system the following year. The result sent Leeds into the 2009 World Club Challenge against NRL premiers Manly-Warringah.
Sources
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
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