This has been a season to remember for Leigh Leopards and one that could get even better if they win the Challenge Cup for the first time in more than 50 years in a fortnight’s time. However, this was an emphatic reminder from their nearest rivals about who is the dominant Super League force in the borough of Wigan.
A run of 13 victories in 14 games has engineered belief that Leigh, who were playing in the Championship last season, could compete on all fronts this year, not least at Wembley in two weeks when they face Hull KR in the cup final.
But this was a firm bump in the road for the Leopards who not only surrendered second position in Super League to a Wigan side who lost in last weekend’s cup semi-finals, but did so in a painful manner.
For half an hour, this was the kind of even contest you would have expected from the sides sitting second and third in the table. However, from there, Wigan clicked through the gears and Leigh had no answer. One eye on Wembley? Perhaps. But do not discredit what was a wonderful attacking performance from Wigan.
“In the middle section of the game we were dominant,” Matt Peets, Wigan’s coach said. “We’ve got the speed on the edges to take advantage of that. I can’t knock this group in terms of effort and desire.”
The scores were level at 6-6 after 30 minutes, with Tom Amone’s try for Leigh cancelled out by Bevan French’s effort for the Warriors. But two tries in three minutes before half-time, to Toby King and French, made it 14-6 and foreshadowed what would follow after the interval.
“Those two tries were telling,” said Leigh’s coach, Adrian Lam. “It’s been an emotional week and that was always a danger, but Wigan were great.”
By the hour mark, the game had been decisively settled thanks to a stunning passage of play from the Warriors. Tyler Dupree marked his debut after signing from Salford this week with a try eight minutes after the restart before two stunning tries from Abbas Miski put the result beyond doubt.
- Download the Guardian app from the iOS App Store on iPhone or the Google Play store on Android by searching for 'The Guardian'.
- If you already have the Guardian app, make sure you’re on the most recent version.
- In the Guardian app, tap the Menu button at the bottom right, then go to Settings (the gear icon), then Notifications.
- Turn on sport notifications.
First, he plucked a Gareth O’Brien pass from midair to race 80 metres unchallenged before the winger then produced a superb one-handed finish to dive across in the corner, with Harry Smith’s conversion making it 32-6.
French’s audacious flick pass then freed Liam Marshall for Wigan’s seventh try and even with 20 minutes still to go, Leigh were entering damage control territory.
They at least added some respectability to the scoreline with tries for Tom Briscoe and Robbie Mulhern in the final minutes, but they were either side of Miski’s hat‑trick, another interception that underlined the Warriors’ superiority.
They will be at home watching their local rivals play on the Wembley stage, but in terms of the race for the Grand Final this performance proves you would be a fool to discount Wigan.
