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Hours after kick-starting Hull KR’s historic treble success with zig-zagging run Wigan While in defense at Old Trafford, Mickey Lewis was as hungry as ever to extend his legacy and confirm Rovers’ status as rugby league’s new dominant force.
Lewis’s brilliant early effort paved the way for Rovers to win the domestic treble with a thrilling 24–6 victory over defending champions Wigan at Old Trafford and in doing so became the first new team in 21 years – and only the fifth overall – to lift the Super League Grand Final trophy.
Inspired by the memory of a near defeat against the same club on the same stage last year, the homegrown 24-year-old saved one of his best performances of the season for when it mattered most, beating his teammates hard in the opening 20 minutes and ultimately securing a relatively comfortable victory.
“I knew I didn’t play as well as I could have last year, I was nowhere near the big moments and I thought this was redemption, a second chance to show the world,” said Lewis, whose team added top domestic honors to their Challenge Cup and League Leaders Shield accolades.
“It proved to me that if I put my mind to it and fully invest I can do it and now I want to continue doing it, because that’s what great people do. One game doesn’t make me a great player, but it’s a step closer and hopefully one day I can look back and realize I was a pretty good player.”
Twelve months after an equally defining moment of Bevan’s genius FrenchThe roles were reversed as Wigan missed two golden moments in the early stages, with fumbles from French himself and captain Liam Farrell keeping the score locked until Lewis pounced to put Rovers in charge.
During a period of numerical advantage after Brad O’Neill was adjudged guilty of a tip-tackle, tries from Joe Burgess and Jez Leighton followed and, even when Harry Smith reduced the deficit midway through the second half, the Robins quickly regained control and Burgess’s swan-diving second, after cutting out a wild pass from Smith, sealed the deal. Sealed.
In addition to long-awaited silverware, Rovers’ reward will be a pre-season World Club Challenge clash against the Brisbane Broncos at Craven Park and a top-of-the-table home game with former major powers Wigan. leeds, st helens And Bradford.
Along with Lewis, Leighton was the other key architect of his team’s continued rise and he echoed his team-mate’s claim that the job was not done after ending his own successful campaign with the effort that had initially halted Wigan’s brief revival.
“I think it shows in history that teams like Wigan, Leeds and Saints have a lot of experience in big games and we’ve looked at these teams and that’s what we want to build on and replicate,” Leighton said.
“We’re on the right track, but it’s not done yet. Hopefully we can go on and win a lot of big games.”