Leigh Leopards dominated Warrington Wolves as they won 24-6 in the final game of Saturday’s Super League Magic Weekend at the Hill Dickinson Stadium.
Warrington came into this game having beaten Leigh twice already this season as well as in pre-season, however, the Leopards boast a 100% record at Magic Weekend since their return to Magic Weekend meaning one record was set to end.
Adrian Lam now continue his 100% record at Magic Weekend since taking charge of Leigh with today’s dominant win moving them within two points of all of Hull KR, Wigan, Wakefield and St Helens.
The scoring started early as Tesi Niu danced through before David Armstrong scored the try of the day as he burned Ewan Irwin for pace. Edwin Ipape started the second half scoring before Umyla Hanley added another to put the game beyond any doubt at 24-0. Marc Sneyd would score a consolation late on to ensure Wire were not nilled.
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Leigh Leopards and Warrington Wolves talking points
Leigh on the march
It’s been said for weeks that Leigh are on the march and their form has shown that with the Leopards winning seven of their last nine games, however, all of those wins came against sides outside of the top six.
They’ve now beaten a side in that top six and it could well be, given each side’s form, that the Leopards replace Wire in the top six by the time we reach the end of the season.
Leigh now play four of their next five games at home, including huge games against Warrington and Wigan, but Adrian Lam’s side will head into those games with full belief that they can secure the two points, such is their form.
Wire set for massive month
Injuries are hitting hard at the moment but it’s fair to say that Warrington Wolves are hitting that customary run of games where they lose form and go from contenders to pretenders, and it could be set to get worse with yet more tough games to come.
Warrington find themselves three games into a six-game gauntlet and they’re currently at one win and two losses in this tricky run that started with their top of the table clash against Leeds earlier this month.
They responded with a win over Catalans but defeat today has seen them vulnerable with both Wigan and Wakefield able to leapfrog them tomorrow, meaning they could end the round in fourth and just two points off seventh.
An away trip to Wigan is next up before a home game against Hull KR and then a trip to today’s victors Leigh that rounds off an incredibly tough July and a spell of six games that could well define Wire’s season.
Full-back announces himself as a star
Magic Weekend is a huge occasion and it often leads to massive moments. Jack Farrimond’s brace against Saints in 2024, Caius Faatili’s solo try against Castleford in 2025 and now David Armstrong’s incredible try against Warrington.
Armstrong raced away from inside his own half and with support arriving, he drew in the stand-in full-back Ewan Irwin and then backed himself to burn the teenager as he rounded him and scored in spectacular fashion.
That’s exactly the sort of try Leigh thought that they would be seeing plenty of when they signed Armstrong from Newcastle Knights but a slow start and an ACL injury have hamped the full-back, but it’s fair to say he is fully finding his groove now.
It’s not just his attack that was on fire today but his try-saving tackle on Irwin also came at a pivotal moment and as Leigh make their play-off push, it’s fair to say they do so with a genuine star in their squad.
Injury issue for Niu
It’s only in the past few weeks that Adrian Lam has had both Tesi Niu and Umyla Hanley available to him but he could be set to lose the former after a worrying injury was sustained in the second half.
Warrington’s Sam Powell was sent to the sin bin for what was a clear hip drop action that resulted in Niu suffering a knee injury that left him unable to return to the field.
A similar injury was suffered by Bailey Hodgson early in the season and that resulted in the former Castleford man being sidelined for just over 10 weeks. Leigh will hope that the injury is not as serious but with just 10 regular season games left, they’ll be understandably concerned.
Rare rule enforced
Super League introduced a number of rules and laws at the start of the season to ensure a quicker game and one of those has been a shot clock on conversions and penalties though until today it’s not thought that anyone has ever timed out.
Players are given one minute to take their kick at goal but that wasn’t enough for Adam Cook today as he went to convert Leigh’s second try with the Australian timed out.
He did still convert the kick but it came after the hooter leaving Cook furious as he tried to explain to the officials that he had been made to wait for a ball, something that we could see more of this weekend given the fan initiative of ‘Catch it, keep it’, whereby balls kicked into the crowd can be kept by fans.
Andy Burnham appearance
A lifelong Everton fan and a Leigh fan to boot, Andy Burnham will have very much enjoyed his visit to the Hill Dickinson Stadium, the ground where he holds a season ticket, as he watched the Leopards win.
Possibly set to become the next Prime Minster, Burnham spoke pre-match on Sky Sports to discuss his love of Leigh and rugby league, whilst also calling for more support for the sport. Should he land the top job at Downing Street, it will be interesting to see if the sport gets any profile boost or funding.
The @LeighLeopardsRL round off Day 1 of #MagicWKND with a win 🙌#SuperLeague pic.twitter.com/HwBGAGjtC9
— Betfred Super League (@SuperLeague) July 4, 2026
