The so-called Battle of the Borough will resume on Thursday night and the team news for Wigan Warriors’ clash with Leigh Leopards is now in.
A game that had little needle in it when Leigh returned to Super League in 2023, it’s quickly become one of the standout games in the calendar with the Leopards’ huge strides leveling the playing field somewhat.
Last year saw the Leopards actually win at the Brick Community Stadium as well with Gareth O’Brien’s drop goal splitting the sides in the famous 1-0 win for last year’s Super League opener, however, it was Wigan who had the last laugh as they won in the play-off semi-finals.
Across the four meetings in 2025, each team won two matches with the aggregate scoreline just favouring Wigan 62-53 and it is the Warriors who have made the stronger start to 2026, winning both their matches so far.
Thursday will likely provide the stiffest test and we now have a better idea of what each side could look like after the 21-man squads were announced.
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Wigan Warriors team news
Wigan came through the disciplinary panel without a ban despite Adam Keighran’s second consecutive Grade B charge with that saving them from a crisis in the centres, given the fact Jake Wardle is already out long-term.
Liam Farrell replaced Wardle against Hull FC and he’s named again but another option is outside back Dayon Sambou.
Matt Peet has only made one change and that has seen Lukas Mason, son of former Super League man Keith, called up in place of fellow youngster Kian McDermott.
Key man Abbas Miski still remains absent as he recovers from hamstring surgery whilst off-season signing Oliver Wilson is another who remains out following his season-ending Achilles injury.
Wigan Warriors 21-man squad: 1. Jai Field, 2. Zach Eckersley, 3. Adam Keighran, 5. Liam Marshall, 6. Bevan French, 7. Harry Smith, 8. Ethan Havard, 9. Brad O’Neill, 10. Luke Thompson, 11. Junior Nsemba, 12. Liam Farrell, 13. Kaide Ellis, 14. Sam Walters, 15. Patrick Mago, 17. Oliver Partington, 19. Jack Farrimond, 20. Sam Eseh, 22. Tom Forber, 25. Taylor Kerr, 27. Lukas Mason, 32. Dayon Sambou
🔢 Head Coach Matt Peet has named his squad to face Leigh Leopards in our @SuperLeague Round 3 match. ⬇️
Matrix Fitness | #WWRL #SLWIGLEI pic.twitter.com/DrkCE7HOuC
— Wigan Warriors 🍒⚪️ (@WiganWarriorsRL) February 24, 2026
Leigh Leopards team news
Umyla Hanley was named in the Leopards’ 21-man squad last week but the centre didn’t feature as he still recovers from his shoulder injury but he’s again named in the squad this week.
Frankie Halton missed and Aaron Pene both missed out last week despite being in the 21-man squad, however, Pene does drop out this week with former Wigan youngster Ryan Brown being his replacement.
That’s the only change from last week’s 21-man squad with Leigh likely set to make calls on Halton and Hanley’s chances of playing later in the week.
Leigh Leopards 21-man squad: 2. Keanan Brand, 3. Tesi Niu, 4. Umyla Hanley, 5. Josh Charnley, 6. Adam Cook, 7. Lachlan Lam, 8. Joe Ofahengaue, 9. Edwin Ipape, 10. Robbie Mulhern, 11. Frankie Halton, 12. Owen Trout, 13. Isaac Liu, 15. Jacob Alick-Wiencke, 16. Matt Davis, 17. Liam Horne, 18. Bailey Hodgson, 19. Innes Senior, 21, Gareth O’Brien, 22. Jack Hughes, 23, Andrew Badrock, 28. Ryan Brown
🐆 𝟮𝟭 𝗦𝗤𝗨𝗔𝗗 𝗦𝗘𝗟𝗘𝗖𝗧𝗘𝗗
Leigh Leopards 21 man squad selected for this Thursday’s game at The Brick. pic.twitter.com/QHE68NCloO— Leigh Leopards (@LeighLeopardsRL) February 24, 2026
