Wigan Warriors Stage Comeback Victory Against Leigh Leopards in Super League Derby

There are moments in Super League seasons, marathons as they are, which can often prove to be sliding doors occasions for both teams involved. And as the full-time hooter sounded in Leigh and Wigan celebrated another statement win with their travelling support, it was not difficult to imagine how one particular moment from this derby could swing the seasons of both teams.

For nearly 40 minutes, Leigh had done something no team had managed to do to Wigan for quite some time: make them appear second best. The Warriors, on a run of nine consecutive wins which began with their Challenge Cup triumph at Wembley in May, had been completely outplayed by their local rivals and their own coach admitted they were lucky to be only 8-0 behind.

But great teams, and great players, find a way to win. Leigh’s first real mistake came two minutes before half-time, when they turned their backs on Jai Field after conceding a penalty, expecting Wigan to kick for touch. Instead, Field tapped the ball and raced 90m downfield to reduce the deficit to just two points by half-time. Just like that, it turned.

When Leigh produced another error three minutes after the restart, the Warriors’ other talisman, Bevan French, pounced to inexplicably move Wigan ahead in a game they had been dominated in to that point. Two more Leigh knock-ons followed soon afterwards and once again, the visitors scored tries from both of them.

Nobody knows how this would have ended had Leigh led more convincingly at half-time. If the Leopards had won, they would have inserted themselves into the picture for the top two. Instead, they are now sitting sixth and looking nervously over their shoulders. Wigan, meanwhile, march on – they are now second and just two points behind the league leaders, Leeds.

Perhaps in a way it was a lesson as to the step Leigh still need to take to compete with a side like Wigan. But the Warriors, frustrated as they will be by the level of this performance, should take great heart from the fact that if they can be this below par with the ball and still win against a playoff rival, imagine what they can do if it clicks in a playoff tie this autumn.

“We needed to improve because in that first half we were second best,” their coach, Matt Peet, said. “We’ve managed our way out of a situation there. There was nothing wrong with our effort but they were very good. You don’t want to win this way every week but it’s good to know it’s in the locker.”

Leigh deservedly led by eight points early on thanks to Innes Senior’s outstanding try and two goals from the boot of Adam Cook, but there was no doubting the big moment here – Field’s breakaway try – left a mark on them. The Leopards will hope it does not leave any long-lasting damage in their push to make the playoffs again.

“I went in and tried to lift them at half-time but it felt like that moment was a bit of an implosion,” Leigh’s coach, Adrian Lam, said. “It was hard to watch in the second half but we were awesome in that first half. It was unbelievably good, and we are very close to being very good. A bit of negativity crept in and our gameplan just fell apart.”

Field’s and French’s tries turned an eight-point deficit into a lead either side of half-time. When Leigh turned possession over cheaply again, Zach Eckersley was the third grateful recipient of a momentary lapse from the Leopards. Then as the hour mark struck, Noah Hodkinson was afforded the same opportunity to make it 20-8 and from there, Wigan were wise enough defensively to close out a crucial win.

But this was a captivating and engrossing derby. With the National Rugby League’s bid for control of Super League incoming over the next few days, this was an advert for everything that is great about the competition. A sold-out stadium, a local rivalry and star talent proving to be the difference when it mattered most.

Yet for all the change potentially coming Super League’s way off the field, one constant is that it would take a brave man to back against Wigan prevailing at Old Trafford again in October.