Wigan Warriors Men and Women achieve wins in the Betfred Super League - a fan perspective
- Craig Forth
- May 17
- 4 min read
Written by Craig Forth Heritage Number 46
Well, the women’s season is under way and what a statement made by Dennis Betts' Wigan Warriors Women's team in the Women's Betfred Super League. This game had everything, fantastic tries, big hits, injuries and even some albeit minor controversy.
The Wigan Warriors women put out a very nearly flawless display winning 40-6, the reigning Women’s back-to-back champions only managing a consolation try late in the game.
Grace Banks bagged a brace with some fantastic footwork on both occasions, collecting some difficult lose balls to go over in the second half, and Tiana Power, has she been training with Jai Field? Her try where she danced around the York defence to put the ball down was nothing but a thing of beauty. Eva Hunter powering through the lines unlucky not to bag herself a try. She was however involved in a dangerous tackle on Tamzin Renouf which landed her on report and Renouf needing to be helped off the stadium, but hopefully nothing to serious for her.
In defence, when Jade Gregory-Haselden was on the pitch, she looked like she was involved in nearly every tackle, as was Megan Williams at 13. Incredible defence from the Warriors to keep a very strong York team to nearly scoreless.
Jenna Foubister was involved in so many aspects of the game and at only 18 years of age, she has a bright future ahead of her. Look out Jodie Cunningham, she may just take your spot as the face of Women’s Rugby League (you heard it here first!)
The women's game is back and wow, what a game we were witnessed to. If you haven’t seen a women’s game, you really don’t know what you are missing out on.
The Warriors are the new girls on the block, they have made a statement in the run up to the Challenge Cup final, and now in the league.”
BATTLE OF THE BOROUGH - PART 2
The women's game was a feast of rugby league and straight after we was treated to the second Battle of the Borough this season at the Brick Community Stadium as the Wigan Warriors took on the Leigh Leopards. This game had it all, controversy, tries, hard knocks and great breaks.
We saw some fantastic moves by the Warriors saw some great tries but credit where credit is due, Leigh had a never say die attitude to this game and didn’t give up. They kept finding weaknesses in Wigan defence and punished them mercilessly, leading to some very nervous Wigan fans at times. Now this is something that Wigan will need to work on. Up to 60 minuets in Las Vegas, Wigan had arguably the best defence in the league, conceding only 9 points in their previous 6 games before Warrington opened a flood gate and at times it feels like we have botched the repair on the pipe but its still leaking. This is concerning for a Wigan team that wants to be hunting glory again at the end of the year.
The controversy did however come with some fans questioning the referee's calls; however, the referee can only interpret the rules as they see them. Both teams got calls that went in their favour at times but let’s not take away from the masterclass of the tries and try saving tackles in this game.
Zach Eckersley ended up leaving the pitch on a stretcher due to a suspected crusher tackle. Having rewatched it, it’s never good to see a player injured but I can’t see anything deliberate in the tackle and hopefully its nothing too serious and Zach will be back playing soon.
Overall, Wigan won’t be happy with how they played but credit to Leigh. Their heart, and determination showed through, winning the second half is a massive achievement in itself. But Wigan played great in the first half, each player doing their job spectacularly at times, showing glimpses of why Wigan have done what they have done and hold the title of Champions. Not a perfect performance, but Leigh made us work for it. A lot of room for improvement in Wigan but Wigan will learn from it, which makes our trip to the LSV on 4th of July all the more exciting as now we have the decider to look forward to.
A final score of 36-28 shows how much both teams played for the right to be called the best in the borough. Both teams went out to win this game and Wigan doing what Wigan do best at times. A little bit of French magic, leading to two great tries, Field having a field day, Marshall adding to his tally and Kruise Leeming getting to salute the crowd after a great try, Wardle breaking lines and the general Harry Smith controlling the Wigan team makes for some of the best things to enjoy in this wonderful sport of ours.
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