The rugby league legend has offered his advice ahead of Saturday’s Grand Final showdown.
Hull KR and Wigan Warriors captains Elliot Minchella and Liam Farrell with the Betfred Super League trophy at Old Trafford.
As Hull KR and Wigan Warriors prepare to face off in this weekend’s Super League Grand Final, four-time winner Leon Pryce has offered a timely reminder of what it takes to succeed on the sport’s biggest domestic stage.
With years of elite experience under his belt – including Grand Final triumphs with both Bradford Bulls and St Helens – Pryce knows exactly how pressure and hype can derail even the best sides.
Speaking ahead of the Old Trafford showdown, the former England and Great Britain international shared advice that could prove the difference between glory and heartbreak, as Wigan bid to retain their title and Hull KR eye a historic treble.
“It’s about patience,” said Pryce, whose glittering trophy cabinet also boasts three World Club Challenge victories, six Challenge Cups and six League Leaders’ Shields.
“You can get caught up in the big occasion – the noise, the lights. If you win this game, you’re known as the champions and that’s all you want to be as a player. But it’s about not going away from what you’re good at, your game plan, and not trying to win the game in the first 15 minutes.
“It’s realising that if you’re behind on the clock, you don’t need to force it. I’ve played in so many Grand Finals where there’s still 25 minutes to go and it can become frantic, and you’re playing a game like you’re in the last two minutes.
“In the NRL, they take it to the last play. Reece Walsh made that tackle [against Melbourne Storm in the Grand Final] in the last minute of the game. You don’t need to start panicking 15 minutes out, stick to the process. You don’t need to try to find the miracle play, and I think that’s sometimes lost in big games.
“Luckily we’ll see two teams with plenty of big game experience over the last few years. It takes winning those big games, like Hull KR in the Challenge Cup, to understand how to win the big games.”
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