Kevin Sinfield’s final fundraising run to meet son Jack’s Grand Final debut

Kevin Sinfield is due to finish a seven-day ultramarathon challenge at Old Trafford on Saturday 3 October, then deliver the match ball for the Super League Grand Final in which his son Jack is set to play for Wakefield Trinity against Warrington Wolves. The match is scheduled to kick off at 6pm. For Jack, 22, it will be his first appearance in the final; for Kevin, the arrival will complete his seventh and final fundraising challenge for people affected by motor neurone disease.

The planned handover brings together two stories that did not appear destined to meet on the pitch when Kevin arranged the challenge. Jack told the Guardian: ‘When he planned this last challenge and for it to finish at Old Trafford, I don’t think even he could have imagined that I would be playing in it.’ Neither the run nor the match-ball delivery had taken place when he spoke on Wednesday.

How Jack Sinfield reached his first Grand Final

Jack came through the Leeds Rhinos academy but struggled to break into the first team, according to the Guardian. He moved to Wakefield after a conversation with the club convinced him of its ambition. The move has taken him to a final against Warrington, with Wakefield seeking its first Super League title. Jack told the Guardian that playing at Old Trafford and following his father’s example had long been a dream.

Wakefield reached the final by beating league leaders Wigan Warriors 33-6 in Saturday’s semi-final. Super League’s account says Jack and Corey Hall scored in quick succession during a second-half burst of three tries in seven minutes. The victory gave Trinity its first Super League Grand Final place, turning Jack’s prospective appearance from a family hope into part of the club’s biggest fixture of the season.

Kevin Sinfield’s route to Old Trafford

Kevin’s challenge calls for an ultramarathon on each of seven consecutive days. Super League says he is due to deliver the match ball at Old Trafford as its finale. The event supports people affected by motor neurone disease, a cause for which he has undertaken a series of fundraising challenges. The scheduled delivery is a ceremonial part of the occasion; the final itself remains to be played.

The Guardian reported that Kevin passed through Wakefield on Wednesday. Jack said he had seen his father that morning before the day’s run began and hoped to see him again as the route came closer to home. He told the paper he was proud of Kevin and had missed him while he was away. Their next planned meeting at Old Trafford will put a father arriving from an endurance challenge alongside a son preparing for a title match.

Old Trafford already holds a place in the family’s rugby league history. Jack told the Guardian that his first rugby league game as a spectator was the 2004 Grand Final, when he was three weeks old and Kevin played for Leeds. He said he attended every Grand Final in which his father played. His favourite memory is Leeds’ 2015 victory, Kevin’s last match as a player, after which the family took a photograph Jack still keeps on his phone.

What Wakefield and Warrington are playing for

A first-time Super League champion is guaranteed. The competition says neither Wakefield nor Warrington has previously won the title. Warrington earned its place by beating Leeds in the other semi-final: the teams were level at 12-12 at half-time before Ewan Irwin’s 65th-minute penalty proved decisive. Warrington last appeared in the Grand Final in 2018, when it lost to Wigan, according to Super League.

Wakefield said ahead of its semi-final that 10,000 Grand Final tickets had been reserved for Trinity fans in Old Trafford’s Stretford End, with sales handled centrally by RL Commercial. Its ticket information also lists arrangements for accessible seating. Those plans were published before Wakefield qualified; the club’s subsequent win established that its supporters would have a team in the final.

Jack has spoken about the prospect of celebrating with his father after the match, but the result and Kevin’s planned arrival are still ahead. The confirmed fixture is Wakefield against Warrington at Old Trafford on Saturday. What happens on the field will determine which club claims its first Super League title, while Kevin’s challenge is scheduled to conclude before the match gets under way.