Sam Tomkins feared his hopes of a fairytale finale to his glittering rugby league career had been dashed when he limped away from Catalans Dragons’ Betfred Super League win over Leigh in Perpignan in February.

The 34-year-old made a painful early morning phone call to Catalans head coach Steve McNamara to concede his decision to extend his career beyond last year’s World Cup in order help the French side towards a second Grand Final had been in vain.

Eight months later, having defied both his own initial fears and those of series of specialists who had delivered dark verdicts on his injured knee, Tomkins is preparing for the final game he always dreamed of, against the club he helped inspire to three previous Grand Final crowns.

It has become increasingly hard to deny that it has been written in the stars for Tomkins, especially since he rolled back the years with a nifty sprint through the defensive line of four-time defending champions St Helens to score the match-winning try in their play-off semi-final last week.

“It’s funny how things turn out,” smiled Tomkins. “My last game for Wigan was winning a Grand Final here in 2018 and now my last ever game on the pitch is against Wigan. I understand how lucky I am to be in this position.

“Everybody has their own personal story of what trophies mean to them. I’ve got a story for every one, but this different. This would be the first Super League title for the club, and the last time I’ll ever lace up my boots.

“The fairytale isn’t playing on Saturday – it’s winning on Saturday.”

Tomkins initially needed some convincing to bring an end to his glittering Wigan career and move to France in 2019, uprooting his young family to join McNamara, the former Bradford coach who harboured persuasive ambitions of turning Catalans into a permanent member of the sport’s elite.

Now his young family speak fluent French and he has no immediate desire to return to the UK, investing in property and a potential vineyard in Perpignan and accepting an offer from club owner Bernard Guasch to continue in a role as a club ambassador.

It is a measure of Tomkins’ gratitude for his improbable late-career surge, and his desire to take the club one step further than their previous Grand Final appearance two years ago, that he was swiftly disabused of the conviction that the match against Leigh could be his last.

“We played against Leigh and I had a sleepless night after that game,” recalled Tomkins. “In the early hours of the morning, I called the coach and just said, ‘I can’t do it.’

“In terms of rugby, it was the toughest conversation I’ve ever had. Steve said to just come in the office and we’d chat through it. I was adamant at the time – I know my body and I just said I couldn’t do it.

“I told them they’d be better off bringing in someone else who can play every week. But the club said they didn’t want to do that. They said they’d rather have me here for the important games, and that for me was humbling.

“The performance and medical staff put together a great plan that meant I’ve played more rugby this year than I ever imagined.

“I will forever be in debt to them for the work they’ve done in my last season that means I’ll be able to finish on the biggest stage.”

Tomkins, however, is adamant the inevitable emotion of the occasion will count for nothing unless he is able to lift his current club to what would be an unprecedented first Grand Final win for the French side.

Catalans went toe to toe with Wigan during the regular season, leading the standings for a long period and eventually finishing second on goal difference, before raising their game to sink Saints in front of a near sell-out at the Stade Gilbert Brutus.

Over six planes full of Catalans fans will travel to Old Trafford and both French and Catalonian television channels will broadcast the game live, testament to the strides made by the club in the two years since they came up short against Saints at the same venue.

“We learned a lot a couple of years ago and we certainly learned that you can go to a Grand Final and play really well and can still not be enough,” said McNamara, who has made winning a personal mission since he moved to the club in 2017.

“The experience you gain is the same whether you win or lose and that puts us in a different place.

“We are up against a club who have been one of the juggernauts of rugby league for the last hundred-odd years, but that is how it should be in a Grand Final, and we know we have got to be outstanding.”

Wigan are looking to kick off a new era of Super League dominance while a Sam Tomkins-inspired Catalans Dragons hope to take rugby league’s biggest domestic trophy back to France for the first time.

Here the PA news agency picks out five key talking points ahead of Saturday’s Grand Final at Old Trafford.

Sam slam

Sam Tomkins admitted prior to the play-off semi-final that he dreamed of finishing his career by lining up against the team with whom he won three previous Grand Finals. The Catalans playmaker has got his wish but will have no room for sentiment as he looks to lead his current side to an historic first win.

French Revolution

After falling short in the final two years ago, Steve McNamara’s Catalans are in a stronger place to take the sport’s biggest domestic trophy back to France for the first time. The impact of such a win should not be understated and could only have positive repercussions for the profile of the sport in the south of France.

Culture club

The sport’s dominant force throughout the late 1980s and 1990s, Wigan were forced to watch in pain as St Helens wrested control with four back-to-back Grand Final wins. With strong recruitment already in place for next season, the feeling is a Wigan win could spark a spell at the top to match that of their vanquished rivals.

Crowded house

Catalans’ previous appearance at Old Trafford yielded a crowd almost 15,000 lower than for any other Grand Final this century. Such a discrepancy may be inevitable – and not so pronounced this time with the French club set to bring a decent contingent of fans – but it does raise a headache where empty seats at the showpiece event are concerned.

Grand finale?

The Rugby Football League’s contract with Old Trafford runs through to 2024 but changes are afoot as strategic partners IMG push forward with a ‘reimagination’ of the sport. While there is no suggestion the Grand Final in itself is under threat, this could be one of the last to be staged at Old Trafford – with the Etihad Stadium across the city rumoured to be leading the list of potential replacements.

Catalans Dragons head coach Steve McNamara is confident a first Grand Final win for his club against Wigan at Old Trafford on Saturday would herald a bright new era for rugby league both in France and beyond.

Having slayed four-time defending champions St Helens in last Friday’s epic play-off semi-final, the Dragons are already generating unprecedented interest in Perpignan – with six private planes already booked to fly fans for the final.

A Catalans win would build on their historic Challenge Cup success over Warrington in 2018 and their only previous Grand Final appearance two years ago, and McNamara believes one final step to the top of the sport could not come at a better time.

“I think it’ll make huge noise around the world if we could get the win,” said McNamara. “Getting to the Grand Final is good but winning it would potentially open the door to a World Club Challenge and other avenues.

“The impact on the game in France would be huge. We’re fighting against a big animal in France in rugby union, but we’re holding our own without a doubt, and games like last Friday against St Helens grabbed the attention of everyone around the world.”

Catalans have grown used to trailblazing since their formation from an amalgamation of a number of French sides in 2000, and the historic granting of a Super League licence for the 2006 season.

Coincidentally Wigan were the first victims of the sport’s new Anglo-French era when they were sunk 38-30 in Catalans’ first match in the competition, and the arrival of former Bradford coach McNamara in 2017 helped them entrench themselves within the game’s elite.

One year after winning their first Challenge Cup in 2018 they staged the first Super League game at Barcelona’s Nou Camp and expanding sponsorship and television deals in Catalonia have led club owner Bernard Guasch to target an imminent return.

Catalans’ former Wigan great Sam Tomkins – who scored the dramatic winning try against Saints – may be deservedly garnering the attention and the plaudits as he approaches a fairytale final match of his stellar career.

But significantly, Catalans’ success is increasingly underpinned by an emerging group of French players, the first generation of home-grown talent to make an impact in Super League, and McNamara is convinced the club’s potential can only continue to grow.

“The club is continuing to develop and the young French players coming into the club now are a lot more professional than they were before,” added McNamara.

“We still have some way to go, but the overall impact on the game (of winning the Grand Final) would be huge not only at the top end, but at the grass-roots level as well.”

Organisers are confident the increasing prominence of the sport in the south of France since 2021 will ensure a healthier crowd than the 45, 177 who witnessed Catalans’ close defeat to Saints, the lowest Grand Final crowd since 2021.

Less than 24 hours after Catalans’ Old Trafford bid, Toulouse will host London Broncos in Sunday’s Championship Grand Final with a swift return to Super League beckoning for their rivals, who were relegated after a single, hard-fought top-flight campaign last year.

The contrasting fortunes of the domestic game are a stark contrast to the international stage, with the French authorities withdrawing from hosting the 2025 World Cup in May, shortly after both their men’s and women’s teams were brushed aside 64-0 by England in Warrington.

“It’s been a difficult period for the French national team,” added McNamara. “But step by step we’ve managed to achieve some real consistency over the last four years, and that can only help to put us in a strong position as a game in France.”