Betfred Super League Play-Off Semi-Final
Saturday 5 October 2024, The Brick Community Stadium (5:30pm)
Wigan Warriors 38-0 Leigh Leopards
Leopards’ magnificent second half of the season which culminated in their first Championship semi-final since 1951 ended in disappointment in front of a 20,000 plus crowd at the Brick Community Stadium.
Adrian Lam, his players and staff have much to be proud of, regaining their Super League place after a record-breaking 2022 season, then finishing fifth and winning the Challenge Cup in 2023.
The record books will show they maintained the momentum in 2024 with an effective fourth-placed finish and their highest average home crowds for 69 years.
Just 80 minutes away from Old Trafford and the club’s first-ever Championship Final, their dreams were ended by a ruthless, physical and hugely impressive Wigan side.
Leopards never got their attacking game together, never sustained the kind of pressure needed to break a rock-solid defence and crucially Warriors exploited every error and every opportunity.
In Bevan French and Jai Field, Wigan have two exceptionally gifted players, signed by Adrian Lam during his tenure as Wigan head coach.
Junior Nsemba looks set to become one of the best forwards of his generation, heading the production line that runs through the club’s academy ranks.
Able now to commence an academy and stop the drainage of junior talent to neighbouring clubs, Leopards have the blueprint for sustained growth and steady improvement.
Nothing is more galling to see so many Leigh lads in a Wigan Academy side, proudly parading their championship trophy at half-time.
All that will take time, but the portents are good that Leopards can continue to feast at the top table of Super League.
It’s only six years ago the club went to Dewsbury with only 13 men due to injuries, ended the game with ten, and lost 52-6.
If that was a low point, this game will be looked back upon as a high point, at least once the dust settles on a derby day drubbing.
Leopards took over 5,000 fans to swell the crowd to 20,511, the third highest for a play-off game in Super League history and the highest for 20 years.
Wigan scored six tries, three in each half and Adam Keighran kicked five conversions and two penalties.
There were two tries apiece for Liam Marshall and Sam Walters, the latter successfully taking the place of injured skipper Liam Farrell.
Marshall twice scored in the left corner after Field joined the attacking line to good effect and Walters stretched over from French’s assist as Wigan fed off Leopards errors, a 3-0 first half penalty count and several ‘six agains’.
Walters’ piercing run through the right channel punished another Leopards handling error and opened up a 24-0 lead early in the second half.
Wigan felt it necessary to accept a kickable penalty before French and Field put the gloss on their victory.
French’s pirouette, followed by grounding of his own grubber kick through a flat defensive line, will be shown time and again- an outstanding individual try by the best player in the UK game.
Field’s pace and elusiveness from a scrum move completed Wigan’s successful evening.
Leopards players thanked the travelling fans, and the departing players took their bows as they bid often tearful farewells.
Not every season has a storybook ending and didn’t for Leopards this time. But the story of 2024 was much to look back on with pride and lots of optimism for the future.
Warriors
1 Jai Field; 2 Abbas Miski, 3 Adam Keighran, 4 Jake Wardle, 5 Liam Marshall; 6 Bevan French, 7 Harry Smith; 8 Ethan Havard, 17 Kruise Leeming, 16 Luke Thompson, 21 Junior Nsemba, 22 Sam Walters, 13 Kaide Ellis (capt)
Bench:
10 Liam Byrne, 15 Patrick Mago, 19 Tyler Dupree, 27 Tom Forber. 18th player (not used) 26 Zach Eckersley
Tries:
Marshall (11, 38), Walters (19, 42), French (60), Field (77)
Goals:
Keighran 7/ 8
Sin bin: Dupree (78_
Leopards
6 Matt Moylan; 34 Darnell McIntosh, 24 Umyla Hanley, 4 Ricky Leutele, 3 Zak Hardaker; 1 Gareth O’Brien, 7 Lachlan Lam; 8 Tom Amone, 9 Edwin Ipape, 10 Robbie Mulhern, 12 Jack Hughes, 20 Oliver Holmes, 13 John Asiata
Bench:
15 Matt Davis, 17 Owen Trout, 33 Brad Dwyer, 35 Aaron Pene. 18th man (not used) 22 Keanan Brand
Scoring sequence: 4-0, 10-0, 12-0, 18-0 (ht) 24-0, 26-0, 32-0, 38-0
Penalty count: 4-3
GLDO: 2-0
Attendance: 20,511
Referee: Chris Kendall; Touch judges: R Thompson & M Craven; Reserve referee: Aaron Moore; M Com: P Smith; Video referee: Tom Grant; Reserve touch judge: G Jones; Timekeeper: Keith Leyland
