2009 Super League Grand Final
10 October 2009 · Old Trafford, Manchester
2009 Super League Grand Final result: Leeds Rhinos def. St Helens, 18-10, at Old Trafford, Manchester on 10 October 2009.
Sourcing caveat: A Sky Sports retrospective article returned a conflicting score and Man of the Match name for this fixture, which appears to conflate this match with a different year's Grand Final — discarded as unreliable. See the finals-series match report for this fixture for a fuller scoring breakdown and its own sourcing notes.
Result
| Team | Score | |
|---|---|---|
| Winner | Leeds Rhinos | 18 |
| Runner-up | St Helens | 10 |
Attendance: 63,259
Super League 2009 — full season ladder & finals series
| Pos | Club | P | W | D | L | PF | PA | Diff | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Leeds Rhinos | 27 | 21 | 0 | 6 | 805 | 453 | +352 | 42 |
| 2 | St Helens | 27 | 19 | 0 | 8 | 733 | 466 | +267 | 38 |
| 3 | Huddersfield Giants | 27 | 18 | 0 | 9 | 690 | 416 | +274 | 36 |
| 4 | Hull Kingston Rovers | 27 | 17 | 1 | 9 | 650 | 516 | +134 | 35 |
| 5 | Wakefield Trinity Wildcats | 27 | 16 | 0 | 11 | 685 | 609 | +76 | 32 |
| 6 | Wigan Warriors | 27 | 15 | 0 | 12 | 659 | 551 | +108 | 30 |
| 7 | Castleford Tigers | 27 | 14 | 0 | 13 | 645 | 702 | -57 | 28 |
| 8 | Catalans Dragons | 27 | 13 | 0 | 14 | 613 | 660 | -47 | 26 |
| 9 | Bradford Bulls | 27 | 12 | 1 | 14 | 653 | 668 | -15 | 25 |
| 10 | Warrington Wolves | 27 | 12 | 0 | 15 | 649 | 705 | -56 | 24 |
| 11 | Harlequins RL | 27 | 11 | 0 | 16 | 591 | 691 | -100 | 22 |
| 12 | Hull FC | 27 | 10 | 0 | 17 | 502 | 623 | -121 | 20 |
| 13 | Salford City Reds | 27 | 7 | 0 | 20 | 456 | 754 | -298 | 14 |
| 14 | Celtic Crusaders | 27 | 3 | 0 | 24 | 357 | 874 | -517 | 6 |
Qualified for the finals series — top 8 (Top-Eight play-off format) that season.
Finals series
Qualifying Play-off
| Date | Result | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18 Sep 2009 | Leeds Rhinos 44–8 Hull Kingston Rovers | Headingley, Leeds | 11,220 |
| 19 Sep 2009 | St Helens 15–2 Huddersfield Giants | Knowsley Road, St Helens | 6,157 |
Elimination Play-off
| Date | Result | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 19 Sep 2009 | Wakefield Trinity Wildcats 16–25 Catalans Dragons | Belle Vue, Wakefield | 4,008 |
| 20 Sep 2009 | Wigan Warriors 18–12 Castleford Tigers | DW Stadium, Wigan | 8,689 |
Preliminary Semi-Final
| Date | Result | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 25 Sep 2009 | Huddersfield Giants 6–16 Catalans Dragons | Galpharm Stadium, Huddersfield | 4,263 |
| 26 Sep 2009 | Hull Kingston Rovers 16–30 Wigan Warriors | Craven Park, Hull | 8,162 |
Qualifying Semi-Final
| Date | Result | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 Oct 2009 | Leeds Rhinos 27–20 Catalans Dragons | Headingley, Leeds | 13,409 |
| 3 Oct 2009 | St Helens 14–10 Wigan Warriors | Knowsley Road, St Helens | 13,087 |
Grand Final
| Date | Result | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 Oct 2009 | Leeds Rhinos 18–10 St Helens | Old Trafford, Manchester | 63,259 |
Match officials
| Referee | Steve Ganson |
Scorers
| Leeds Rhinos | Tries: Matt Diskin — minute unconfirmed (between 26th and 37th minute); Lee Smith 37'; Lee Smith 73' Goals: Kevin Sinfield (2/4) Drop goals: Kevin Sinfield (1, 45'); Rob Burrow (1, 78') |
| St Helens | Tries: Kyle Eastmond 13' Goals: Kyle Eastmond (3/3) |
Teams
| Leeds Rhinos | St Helens | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brent Webb | Fullback | Paul Wellens | 1 |
| 2 | Scott Donald | Wing | Ade Gardner | 2 |
| 3 | Lee Smith | Centre | Matthew Gidley | 3 |
| 4 | Keith Senior | Centre | Kyle Eastmond | 18 |
| 5 | Ryan Hall | 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 | 10 |
| 14 | Matt Diskin | Hooker | Keiron Cunningham (c) | 9 |
| 10 | Jamie Peacock | Prop | Tony Puletua | 16 |
| 11 | Jamie Jones-Buchanan | Second Row | Chris Flannery | 13 |
| 18 | Carl Ablett | Second Row | Jon Wilkin | 12 |
| 13 | Kevin Sinfield (c) | Loose Forward | Lee Gilmour | 11 |
| Substitutes | ||||
| 12 | Ali Lauitiiti | Bryn Hargreaves | 15 | |
| 16 | Ryan Bailey | Maurie Fa'asavalu | 23 | |
| 17 | Ian Kirke | James Roby | 14 | |
| 19 | Luke Burgess | Paul Clough | 17 | |
| Brian McClennan | Coach | Michael (Mick) Potter | ||
Harry Sunderland Trophy
Kevin Sinfield (Leeds Rhinos). Sinfield won the Harry Sunderland Trophy — Super League's Grand Final Man of the Match award, not renamed the Rob Burrow Award until 2024 — as captain and chief architect of Leeds' kicking game.
Match context
Leeds Rhinos beat St Helens 18-10 at Old Trafford to become the first club in Super League history to win three consecutive Grand Finals (2007-2009). Tied 8-8 at half-time, Matt Diskin's early try was matched by Kyle Eastmond's for St Helens, and the lead changed hands through the second half via Kevin Sinfield's kicking and a Rob Burrow drop goal. The match's defining moment was Lee Smith's second try in the 73rd minute — his last appearance for Leeds before departing for rugby union — which video referee Phil Bentham reviewed closely for a possible offside or grounding issue before awarding it, sealing the win. Kevin Sinfield won the Harry Sunderland Trophy. The result capped the inaugural season of the "Top-Eight"/"club call" playoff format, with the same top seed (Leeds) that had topped the regular-season table also lifting the title, having used the newly-introduced club call in week 3 to steer around a Wigan Warriors side that had looked the most dangerous play-off form team.
Sources
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
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