Wigan Warriors hosted St Helens in the 373rd meeting between the pair and the verdict on the Super League clash is now in.
Despite St Helens threatening a second half comeback, it was Wigan Warriors who won 24-14 as they kept marching on and put on a show for a huge crowd of over 24,000.
St Helens have certainly unearthed a star in George Whitby but there will be questions asked of their senior players after the defeat.
The major selection decision came around Jonny Lomax with the St Helens captain not named by Paul Wellens as young gun George Whitby was backed following his brilliant showing against Salford.
It was a huge call by Wellens given the occasion and the fact Wigan looked to find their form last week with a win over Hull KR. They were dealt a late blow as Patrick Mago pulled up ill in the warm-up, meaning Tom Forber joined the squad late.
Here’s our verdict on the Good Friday derby between Wigan Warriors and St Helens.
Wigan Warriors hold off St Helens comeback to win
Derby day delight for @WiganWarriorsRL 🍒⚪️#SuperLeague pic.twitter.com/A5LtDoXIcC
— Betfred Super League (@SuperLeague) April 18, 2025
With Wigan naming former NRL man Christian Wade as a new signing minutes before kick off, it’s fair to say that the Brick Community Stadium was bouncing. Wigan settled that somewhat when Harry Smith’s penalty put them 2-0 up after a frantic opening few minutes.
Jai Field dropped a George Whitby bomb to give Saints the territory and they’d use that with the 18-year-old kicking a penalty to make it 2-2 after 22 minutes. Wigan thought they’d hit back through Harry Smith but Tyler Dupree was adjudged to have obstructed the Saints defenders.
Wigan weren’t to be denied though as Jai Field scored minutes later when he collected Bevan French’s kick to score under the sticks. The video referee was called upon again minutes later and this time it went in Wigan’s favour as Abbas Miski scored in the corner to make it 12-2.
The final exchanges of the first-half saw Tyler Dupree leave the field for a HIA whilst Moses Mbye was sent to the sin bin for a high shot on Zach Eckersley. Shortly after the break, Sam Walters was sent to the bin for the same making it 12 versus 12 as Jon Bennison slipped on his way into contact and was collected high by Sam Walters.
That didn’t seem to impact Wigan though as Jai Field scored his second, taking his tally to 10 in Super League this year, off the back of a smart Harry Smith pass. Perhaps summing up Saints’ misfortune and lackustre performance was when this year’s star performer Morgan Knowles knocked on at the play the ball under no pressure.
George Whitby then sliced through but his pass to set Daryl Clark up was judged forward, however, that seemed to spark something for St Helens who then scored through Lewis Murphy with the winger’s acrobatic finish bringing it back to 18-8 after Whitby’s exceptional conversion.
Agnatius Paasi then powered over with seven minutes to go to set up a grandstand finish, however, the game was sealed with just two minutes to go when Tristan Sailor fumbled at the back. That allowed Wigan to scoop the ball which was shifted to Abbas Miski who scored easily late on for the second week running.
Good day for
George Whitby might have ended on the losing side but he stood out in his first Good Friday derby, and not because he was found wanting. Whitby was brilliant throughout with his forward pass to Clark the only blemish on an otherwise superb performance. St Helens need to persist with him in the halves based on this showing.
Bad day for
Paul Wellens will have been pulling his hair out watching countless errors, many of which were committed by senior players. With the game ending as closely as it did, you have to ask if those countless handling errors cost the Saints.
Star man
Sam Walters, sin bin aside, was absolutely exceptional. The second-rower has been playing a lot more at prop and after the recent injury to Luke Thompson, that’s become even more important. He played the full first half and his only break came when sent to the bin, correctly although somewhat unfairly, given the ask for the six foot six man to match Jon Bennison’s rapid loss of height.
Teams
Wigan Warriors XIII: Jai Field, Abbas Miski, Zach Eckersley, Jake Wardle, Liam Marshall, Bevan French, Harry Smith, Liam Byrne, Kruise Leeming, Sam Walters, Junior Nsemba, Liam Farrell, Kaide Ellis.
Interchanges: Brad O’Neill, Tom Forber, Tyler Dupree, Harvie Hill.
St Helens XIII: Tristan Sailor, Jon Bennison, Matt Whitley, Mark Percival, Lewis Murphy, Jack Welsby, George Whitby, Alex Walmsley, Moses Mbye, Matty Lees, Curtis Sironen, Joe Batchelor, Morgan Knowles.
Interchanges: Daryl Clark, Agnatius Paasi, George Delaney, Dayon Sambou.
A huge Good Friday Derby 👊@WiganWarriorsRL and @Saints1890 go head-to-head live on @SkySports from 3pm!#SuperLeague pic.twitter.com/0UCBoM9IsD
— Betfred Super League (@SuperLeague) April 18, 2025
