London Broncos warmed up for a potential elevation into Super League by clinching the Championship title in emphatic and record-breaking fashion.
Jason Demetriou’s side had already clinched two legs of a domestic second tier treble with victory in the 1895 Cup Final and by finishing top of the Championship after the conclusion of the regular season.
And the hat-trick was never really in doubt from an early stage on Sunday afternoon – with London eventually finishing with the biggest winning margin ever seen in a Championship Grand Final.
London clinch domestic treble
In the end, the Grand Final was a formality for London, perhaps unsurprising given the gulf in quality and indeed salary spend between themselves and the Dons.
But that should not overshadow a remarkable season for Richard Horne’s side, who have established themselves as a standout second tier team against the odds this season.
However, they were unable to live with London from start to finish at Wimbledon on Sunday afternoon.
They were 38-0 behind at half-time after a flurry of brilliant tries from the Broncos to put the outcome of the game beyond doubt long before the hooter had sounded for the midway point in proceedings. James Meadows scored two of their seven first half tries, with Neil Tchamambe and Elliot Wallis also crossing.
Wallis and Tchamambe added another try apiece in the second half too as London continued to pile on the points against a pretty helpless Doncaster outfit.
The Dons did at least avoid the ignominy of being nilled in the final with Luis Johnson scoring, but there were plenty of points at the other end.
Brandon Webster-Mansfield claimed a brace within the space of eight minutes after the restart with Connor O’Beirne and Gairo Voro also scoring. The Broncos continued to roll along at almost a point a minute for the whole of the afternoon, with Emarly Bitungane rounding off the points with a sensational solo effort.
The previous record winning margin in a Championship Grand Final was 36, set by Featherstone in 2011 and Wakefield in 2024. London almost doubled that record margin here to underline their superiority over the rest of the second tier.
What happens next for London?
The expectation is that London have now played their final game as a Championship club – with promotion to Super League considered an increasing possibility for 2027.
The NRL have insisted that any partnership between themselves and Super League must include the Broncos in the top flight. Initially, RL Commercial were set to push back on that – but it has been insisted to Super League that it is essentially a conditional term of any partnership.
Super League clubs are now accepting of the fact that the competition looks set to expand to 15 teams in 2027, which means London will return to the top flight under their new ownership group of Darren Lockyer and Grant Wechsel.
That is despite them potentially finishing BELOW some other Championship teams in the IMG gradings, with speculation that Widnes Vikings and Barrow Raiders could yet be higher them when the full list is published later this month.
However, it appears to be an increasing formality that London have just played their final Championship game – and they have signed off in some style.