The relentless juggernaut rolls on at an increasingly unstoppable pace. It has been fantastic for Super League to have two new forces in Hull KR and Leigh emerge as title contenders, but one of them was always likely to have to produce the performance of their lives to stop the seemingly inevitable.
The Leopards had no answer for the might of Wigan Warriors here, meaning that it is now on the Robins at Old Trafford next Saturday to stop what appears to be a canter towards back-to-back Super League titles and the completion of a historic grand slam, the like of which has barely been seen before.
Leigh, armed with a support of more than 5,000 and looking for their first Super League Grand Final appearance, travelled across the borough as the competition’s form team. Ninth as recently as July, Leigh had won 12 of their past 14 games to move close to their own historic feat. They should hold their heads high at how far they have come.
“I’m extremely proud,” their coach, Adrian Lam, said. “They’ve worked really hard to work away into this position tonight, the furthest the club has got in Super League.” However, this was ultimately a game too far for the Leopards.
The Old Trafford showpiece will now be a mouthwatering meeting of the competition’s best two sides in 2024. “We’re very pleased,” said Matt Peet, the Wigan coach.
As a result of this victory, Peet’s side are now one win away from an incredible moment in the sport’s 129-year history. Only five teams have won four major trophies in one season: Hunslet in 1908, Huddersfield in 1915, Swinton in 1928, St Helens in 1966 and Wigan in 1994. It has never been done in the Super League era. But Wigan are now overwhelming favourites to complete a grand slam by adding the Super League title to the World Club Challenge, the Challenge Cup and the League Leaders’ Shield.
- 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.
It is an astonishing feat which underlines how this side are the game’s dominant force. Here, Leigh fought gamely but had nothing in terms of an answer to what Wigan threw at them and by half-time, they were 18-0 behind.
Tries from Liam Marshall and Sam Walters inside the opening quarter put the hosts 12 points in front and even at such an early stage, you felt Wigan would be unstoppable from there.
“I knew if we didn’t get the start right, anything could happen, so I was pleased the way we attacked the start of the game,” Peet said. But the game’s decisive moment came just before half-time. Leigh were arguably fortunate to be only 12 points behind at that stage but when Marshall crossed for his second after another imperious assist from Jai Field sent the winger over for a walk-in and Adam Keighran converted from the touchline, matters felt decided.
Two minutes after the restart, Walters coasted through a huge gap in the Leopards defence for his second. Bevan French then produced a world-class solo try to put the gloss on a night that had long since delivered. Not to be shown up, Field then delivered one of his own with two minutes remaining, dancing around an already-beaten defence.
Can anyone stop Wigan in the pursuit of even more greatness? There is now only one team left standing who can provide an answer to that question.
