The Winning Try season 1 review — Politics, heartbreak, and healing teamwork

The Winning Try season 1 plays out like a long and punishing tournament, with every round testing not just the team’s strength but also their spirit. For twelve episodes, the students of Hanyang High face a gauntlet of injuries, corruption, and betrayals, yet keep finding ways to rise again.

By the time the season closes, the bruises matter less than the resilience they built, and the victory feels as emotional as it is athletic.

A season of survival

From the very first match, The Winning Try makes it clear this will not be a clean game. Corruption seeps into the school’s leadership, and personal grudges spill onto the field. Each time the team recovers, another blow arrives, sometimes from an opponent, sometimes from those meant to protect them.

The season’s rhythm alternates between exhaustion and recovery, with each hit shaping a stronger core. What prevents the story from collapsing into full despair are the moments of solidarity. A hand on a shoulder after a fall, a friend stepping in when the rules are bent against them, and a coach reminding them that pain is temporary but unity lasts longer. These scattered acts of loyalty keep the match alive even when the scoreboard looks hopeless.

Ga-ram’s second wind

Ga-ram’s journey as coach defines the season. Once lost in his own struggles, he returns to the field as someone who leads not by perfection but by persistence. His words are raw, charged with the grit of someone who has been knocked down and still demands another round.

For the players, that voice becomes an anchor, pushing them to endure. His arc mirrors the team’s, proving that leadership grows out of persistence and resilience. Watching him rebuild himself while holding the team together is as satisfying as any victory chant.

Heartbreak and healing in The Winning Try

The drama shows how much it costs to fight. I-ji’s sacrifices strike with force, leaving a weight that stays with us. U-jin’s romance with the captain of the rugby team brings sweetness, but it also rises out of struggle. Every relationship in the drama is tested by circumstance, and the healing that follows is earned through scars.

These threads are woven into the rhythm of the matches, with the personal and the athletic blurring until every play on the field feels like an echo of what happens off it. Winning becomes more than a score. It becomes the ability to carry pain with dignity.

A season well played

By the end, The Winning Try transforms eleven episodes of punishment into a conclusion that feels both fair and restorative. The corrupt are exposed, the loyal are rewarded, and the team discovers that victory is not measured only in trophies. It's also measured in the trust rebuilt between players, the love that survives hardship, and the knowledge that endurance itself can be a triumph.

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The Winning Try leaves the impression of a long season finished, the whistle finally blown, and the sense that sometimes the best stories are the ones where pain and joy share the same field.

Rating with a touch of flair: 5 out of 5 battered jerseys lifted high in triumph.

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