St Helens forward Curtis Sironen has reflected on a “surreal” and “crazy” Grand Final win, the first of his professional career.
Sironen started in the second row in Saints’ 24-12 victory over Leeds at Old Trafford.
“It’s unreal, it’s very surreal,” he told League Express at full-time.
“The atmosphere was crazy. The boys are obviously very experienced, so I was picking a few brains during the week. It was everything that they said and more.
“We just played well too; we were on. We’ve just got that intensity. We know if we play well, we’re hard to beat. Leesy scored well and then it was just sort of clockwork.
“They got that try right before half-time, which was against the grain a bit. We just knew we were going to be hard to beat today.”
Sironen only joined St Helens at the start of the season from Manly. The son of Aussie great Paul, the second-rower had never played in a Grand Final before during his career until Saturday.
“We made the Under-20s Grand Final at the Wests Tigers but I popped my shoulder out,” he said.
“So I missed that. I’d never played in any big ones, so I’m one from one. This is my eleventh season playing first-grade and I never made it past the first week of the semis, so I’m just buzzing.”
Sironen put on a big shift at Old Trafford, recording 119 metres from 19 carries, while also making 24 tackles.
Saints managed their fourth Grand Final win without injured players such as Alex Walmsley, Lewis Dodd and Regan Grace.
“It’s the culture that we’ve got here,” explained Sironen.
“Guys come in and they do a great job. I think we’ve been missing guys all year through injury and a lot of suspensions as well.
“But we’ve still been winning, we got the League Leaders’ Shield as well. It’s been a great year.”
Sironen is a supporter of Liverpool FC in football but admitted playing at the home of Manchester United was special.
“I follow Liverpool, but it was unreal,” he said.
“When we were in the tunnel with our jackets on walking out, I nearly started crying… it gets you. It’s just crazy. What a day!”
St Helens have now won four Grand Finals in a row after defeating Salford in 2019, Wigan in 2020, Wigan last year and now Leeds.
“I don’t know how they’ve done that,” the 29-year-old admitted.
“It’s only been one for me, so I’m going for two in a row [next year]. I’m not even going to think about that now; I’m going to enjoy the next few days with my team-mates.
“It’s been a big move, moving over here, living by myself, being away from my family. But it’s all been worth it. I’ve made friends forever. And I’m just over the moon.”
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