Ardent Warrington Wolves fan Rob Watson issues a rallying cry ahead of Saturday’s Grand Final at Old Trafford.

JUST a couple of weeks ago Wire had a crushing defeat that many thought signalled the end of their season.

Now they have the chance to avenge that loss on the biggest stage of all and claim the greatest prize for the first time in 61 years.

It would be awful to lose to Wigan again at Old Trafford, but just imagine how great it would be to end the drought by beating Wigan – the team from up the road that have been the complete opposite of Wire’s mediocrity over the past 60 years – and sending their fans home looking like a miserable ‘Where’s Wally’ convention.

Now is not the time to worry about past failures, it is time to focus on the present moment.

Don’t be worrying about which players won’t be playing, focus on those who are. At the end of the Magnificent Seven, there is only three of them left but they still win the battle.

A game plan will be put in place, but the most important things are that every player shows the great spirit and takes the responsibility in the way they have done over the past two weeks.

History is against us, but in Australia, Cronulla have just won their first Grand Final, Leicester won their first Premier League title this year, Team GB have gone from being massive underachievers to a dominant force in the Olympics – you can’t change the past but you don’t have to repeat it.

Instead of worrying about history, players can focus on creating some of their own.

I have always said that nobody is good enough to beat Warrington 19 times out of 20 on their own ground!

After the high of the previous week at Hull, Wire needed to go higher still to beat an in-form St Helens side that have a ridiculously good record at The Halliwell Jones Stadium.

It was a vintage arm wrestle for the first 30 minutes or so and never really got too far away from that, with very few penalties or errors from either team and both defences being outstanding.

This was the type of game Wire have so often lost, either because they lost their patience or concentration or because the big moments went against them. This time, none of those things happened.

Instead, they gradually cranked up the pressure enough to get the two tries that won the game.

First, Ratchford used his eyes well enough to spot a chance to score from acting half-back on the last tackle, then a slick handling move to the right was well finished by Lineham - no matter what Sky Sports say.

From there it was a matter of minimising mistakes and great defence being enough to get Wire to Old Trafford.