‘Why I’m travelling 10,000 miles from Australia to cheer on Wakefield Trinity in Grand Final’

A lifelong Wakefield Trinity supporter is flying more than 10,000 miles from Australia to be at the Grand Final after the club’s stunning victory over Wigan.

Harry Crabtree, who is originally from Alverthorpe, moved to Australia in July 2025 to work, travel and experience a different way of life.

The 26-year-old is now settled in Highett, Melbourne, Victoria, where he works full-time as an electrician for a switchboard manufacturer.

But despite being on the other side of the world, his passion for Wakefield Trinity has remained as strong as ever.

“I’ve supported Trinity since childhood and held a season ticket for several years before moving to Australia, including during the club’s Championship-winning season,” he said.

"I also travelled to Wembley for the 1895 Cup Final.”

Since relocating to Melbourne, Harry has continued to follow Trinity whenever he can, despite the huge time difference.

Kick-offs can mean alarms going off in the early hours of the morning, with games sometimes starting at between 2am and 5am Melbourne time.

And Trinity’s recent semi-final victory over Wigan was no exception.

“The match kicked off at 2.30am Melbourne time and I was expecting a difficult night.”

Instead, he witnessed what he described as the best Wakefield performance he has seen in his lifetime as Trinity produced a convincing away victory over Wigan.

“I was genuinely buzzing when they won and struggled to get back to sleep,” he said.

It was during the early hours of Sunday morning in Melbourne that the idea of making the long journey back to England for the Grand Final first became a serious possibility.

Now, he is making the trip. He left Melbourne at 10pm on Thursday, arriving in the UK at around 1pm today (Friday).

The journey will be made alone, with the sole purpose of being there to watch Trinity contest the Grand Final.

"I’ll be staying for three days then will fly back to Melbourne on Monday. I’m due back at work on Thursday, so it’s a quick round-trip.”

But for a lifelong Trinity supporter, missing the Grand Final was never an option.

“There was no way I was going to miss the Grand Final if Trinity got there,” he said.

The dramatic win over Wigan has also left him convinced that Wakefield have every chance of going all the way.

“For me, Wigan was the hardest game on paper, and that was the best Wakefield performance I’ve seen in my lifetime,” he said.

“To go to Wigan and beat a team that had been absolutely on fire and had looked almost invincible was incredible.

“After that performance, I don’t see any reason why Trinity can’t go all the way.”

Having followed his team from the other side of the world throughout the season, he will now be back among the Wakefield supporters for the biggest game of the campaign.

“I’ll be flying halfway around the world for three days just to be there, so hopefully it’ll be worth it!”