Wednesday 30 September 2015 15:30, UK
Retaining their best young players is almost as important to Bradford and Wakefield as the Million Pound Game, says Phil Clarke...
A good friend of mine laughed at me last week when I said "it's the best finish to a season ever!"
Okay, I know it sounds like TV talk where we pump it up, but it's true. Never before, and possibly never again, will we get a finale like this.
Ryan Hall's try was a one in a million moment and their win now gives them home advantage this week.
Nobody knows or has any confidence to predict which team will win the Grand Final. In fact, nobody knows who will get there. If you scripted the action, as they do in professional wrestling, you wouldn't be able to write a story line like the one we have right now.
Leeds' last-minute win may well have wrested the initiative back in their favour, but the return of Alex Walmsley could cancel that out.
The Warriors have already beaten Huddersfield three times this year and are unbeaten at the DW Stadium in Super League, but the Giants are a hard team to beat.
Well, they were up until this point. I've seen teams lose in circumstances similar to theirs last Friday and it can take them a long time to recover.
Interesting
Intriguingly, the game that has me most interested this week is the Million Pound Game on Saturday. Fourth-placed Wakefield take on a fifth-placed Bradford in a game which promotes the winners back into Super League for 2016.
Both teams have won three of their seven games in the Qualifiers and the Bulls actually scored more tries than Wakefield over the seven rounds, but the match that most people recall was the one when Wakefield embarrassed James Lowes' team 48-18.
Just imagine what Bradford would be like if they'd been able to retain Jamie Peacock, John Bateman, Elliott Whitehead and a few guys called Burgess.
It was played in mid-August, which in sport is a long time ago. On that day the Wildcats looked like they were in a completely different league (or should be).
They scored four tries in the opening quarter or so and it looked like a mismatch. It was impossible then to think that they would meet again in a game with so much at stake.
Winning the game though isn't necessarily the biggest challenge that these two clubs face. Retaining their best young players is.
Last week saw Theo Fages leave Salford for St Helens, a brilliant signing for the Saints in my opinion but a massive hole now in the Reds' hopes of growing into a team that competes in the top half of the Super League competition.
Bradford know all about this. Just imagine what they would be like if they'd been able to retain Jamie Peacock, John Bateman, Elliott Whitehead and a few guys called Burgess. They all played for the Bulls at one time.
From what I've seen and heard, the Wildcats have three young players who have massive potential. In fact, I'm certain that at least one of them will go on to play for England and one of them will be shortlisted for the Man of Steel in the next decade.
Max Jowitt is a full-back who we may well see on Saturday. Tom Johnstone plays centre or wing and you may recall the spectacular tries he scored in Newcastle when the Wildcats lost to the Tigers.
The other player is called Jordan Crowther. He made his debut as a forward when aged just 17. All three have brilliant potential but clubs like Salford, Wakefield and Bradford seem to lose their best young players to the bigger teams.
I know it's not easy but the two teams who will entertain us on Saturday need a short-term and long-term plan. Keeping hold of their best young assets has to be central to them.
Good luck to both teams. There won't be a helicopter at Wakefield but we might have a security van with £1m in the back of it. Just imagine that driving onto the pitch as the hooter sounds.
Watch Wakefield v Bradford live on Sky Sports 1 HD on Saturday from 2.45pm. Catch the match with a Sky Sports Pass on NOW TV.
