Three Grand Final winners tell skysports.com just what it takes to win at Old Trafford.
All the play-off matches are shown live on Sky Sports
The odyssey that ends at Old Trafford gets under way on Friday night with Bradford hosting Wigan. Three former Grand Final winners tell skysports.com just what it takes to successfully negotiate the minefield of the play-offs.
Tommy Martyn (St Helens) recalls his 2000 play-off memories, when St Helens defeated Wigan 29-16 in the Grand Final.
Key to play-off success: Be prepared to take risks.
The former Saints stand-off believes a brave, risk-taking approach was the key to Saints landing the greatest prize in the domestic game in 2000.
Martyn insisted the then St Helens coach, Ian Millward, instilled a "never die waiting" attitude into the team which stood the team in good stead throughout his reign at Knowsley Road.
"We knew playing for St Helens, like at Leeds, Bradford or Wigan we had a 99 per cent chance of being in the play-offs, so we prepared the season with that in mind," he told skysports.com.
"Millward always gave us a game plan to work to but he also used to say, 'if you see a gap, don't die waiting, go for it'.
"That was perfect for people like me and Longy (Sean Long) who liked to take risks and try something different."
Martyn believed this allowed the team to have the freedom to be creative at high pressure points in games and he recalls one such magical moment in the play-off match against Bradford.
Saints were trailing 11-10 to the Bulls in the final seconds when Sean Long tried a risky, but cunning cross-field kick. Martyn believes few would have even thought of the kick, let along attempted it but the move worked a treat. Kevin Iro picked up the Long punt before Dwayne West surged downfield and released Chris Joynt for a last-gasp try to snatch a dramatic victory from the jaws of defeat.
With their confidence buoyed St Helens crushed Wigan 54-16 to book a date for Old Trafford before a rampant Saints overcame their fierce local rivals again - 29-16 in the rematch.
"It was a great occasion because it was Apollo Perelini and Fereti Tuilagi's last game, so there was an element of doing it for them," explained Martyn. "But another factor in our success was our confidence was sky high. I was really confident after being awarded the Players' Player of the Year award before the play-offs and my half-back partner Longy (Sean Long) was awarded The Man of Steel.
Both half-backs were really confident and I think that really helped the team."
Michael Withers (Bradford) recalls the Bulls making history in 2005 and becoming the first side from outside the top two to win the Grand Final.
Key to play-off success: Momentum and playing with confidence.
Reminiscing about Bradford's successful 2005 campaign, Withers believe momentum was critical to producing what has previously been regarded as mission impossible - to win the play-offs by playing four games on four successive weekends.
However, the Australian-born full back always knew it was an achievable goal and traces the seeds of that success to the weeks leading up to the play-offs.
"We only finished third in the regular season but our form was pretty special going into the play-offs," said Withers. "We had won our last eight games on the bounce before the play-offs, we had built up a bit of momentum and had a lot of confidence. I'd say a big thing for us that year was the timing of the play-offs."
The Bulls overcame London Broncos 44-22 in a bruising elimination play-off encounter at the Odsal Stadium before Withers' men swatted aside a shellshocked Hull 71-0 in the elimination semi-final, to set up a final eliminator at Knowsley Road.
Withers described the match at St Helens as an" arm wrestle" before a Shontayne Hape try three minutes from time sealed a dramatic 23-18 victory.
But he insisted despite their red hot form the Bulls were taking nothing for granted ahead of their Old Trafford showdown with Leeds.
"We knew out fitness was very good because we had been playing week in and week out, but the Grand Final is a one-off and it just comes down to the performance on the night," he added.
Thankfully for Withers the Bulls kept their heads in a tense Grand Final with tries from Lesley Vainikolo and Leon Pryce sealing a 15-6 victory at a sold-out Old Trafford.
"It was a special win for so many reasons, but especially because we knew we had a big group of players leaving at the end of the year," added Withers, who was forced to retire earlier this year because of a knee injury.
Barrie McDermott (Leeds). In the penultimate year of his long and distinguished career, the Rhinos prop finally became a Grand Final winner in 2004.
Key to play-off success: Passion and commitment.
McDermott looks back on his long and distinguished career with pride but he had few better moments than winning the 2004 Grand Final - a victory he believes was forged through a combination of desire and commitment.
Leeds Rhinos had topped the regular league season but slipped up in their first play-off match, losing 26-12 to Bradford at Headingley with two early Shontayne Hape tries proving decisive.
McDermott said defeat was a "huge blow" but because the Rhinos topped the league, they had the luxury of a second bite at the cherry and it was one his team were not about to waste.
"We went into the Bradford game and started to think we were invincible," said McDermott. "That defeat gave us the good kick up the backside we needed. But even after the Bradford match we knew we could still win the Grand Final. We felt it was the year of the Rhino. We thought we had the game plan and the troops to win it."
Amid an electric atmosphere at Headingley the Rhinos overwhelmed Wigan 40-12 in the final eliminator, with Marcus Bai scoring a hat-trick of tries to set up a Grand Final against Bradford.
In a hard-fought physical final the Rhinos overcame the Bulls 16-8 to land their first Grand Final, but McDermott pinpoints the attitude of one player in the dressing room as epitomising the never-say-die attitude of that Leeds team.
"Dave Furner, (Australian forward) who was in his last game for the club, slipped during the warm up in the dressing room and damaged his ligaments in his knee," said McDermott. "But he didn't take a backward step and rather than quitting he simply took a couple of pain-killing injections, strapped his knee up and played the game."
