Former Batley Bulldogs and Dewsbury Celtic player Alex Walmsley celebrates Grand Final joy with St Helens for a third time

Saints won their seventh title with the last play of the match after a closely-fought contest.

At one point, former Batley Bulldogs player Walmsley was unsure if he would ever play in Super League.

He didn’t make his professional debut with Batley until he was 22, joining the club from amateur side Dewsbury Celtic.

However, Friday night’s success in Hull was the third time Walmsley became a Super League champion, adding to titles from 2019 and 2014.

Wigan had led with 15 minutes to go after Jake Bibby flew over for a try in the right corner.

Lachlan Coote had kicked two penalties for Saints either side of that score while Zak Hardaker hit the crossbar with one conversion attempt and had another penalty attempt fall agonisingly short in the final minute.

From that, St Helens barged their way into the Wigan half as Tommy Makinson aimed a drop goal towards the uprights from just under 40 metres as the hooter sounded.

The ball struck the post but 19-year-old Jack Welsby didn’t give up the chase, beating Bevan French to the ball and dotting down with an inch to spare.

The decision was sent to the video referee and even though a clutch of St Helens players were jumping for joy, Walmsley wanted to wait for the score to be confirmed before allowing himself to celebrate.

“It is the little plays that come up with the big results,” Walmsley told Sky Sports post-match.

“Jack Welsby, 19-years-old, came up with the biggest play. Unbelievable. That is what our game is about.

“When it went up to screen, I thought ‘I can’t celebrate this’.“When you seen it on the screen and you saw him get it down; I was so happy.”

It has been a long, testing season for clubs in and outside of Super League. Top-flight sides have had their fixture schedules changed at short notice while also dealing with short turnarounds which has led to a build-up of injuries.

Championship and League 1 clubs have not played since March and are unlikely to play again until March 2021.

Walmsley added: “It has been such a long year, not just for us, but for the whole game.

“For us to finish the way we have makes me so happy.”

The Dream Team player is set to go undergo knee cartilage surgery after playing through the pain barrier in the Grand Final.

His teammate Tommy Makinson revealed afterwards that Walmsley had been battling the injury in training, adding: “In the week he was gone. He turned up for us and he was unbelievable and credit to Al’.”