Warrington Wolves spurned a huge chance to keep the pressure on Leeds Rhinos as they failed to beat a youthful Wigan Warriors.
Matt Peet’s side won 30-18 despite trailing 12-0 inside 11 minutes with the Wigan Warriors wonderkids putting in an incredibly performance, with four of their five try-scorers scoring for the first time in a Wigan shirt.
All the news before the game revolved around the fact that Jai Field was the latest Wigan star to be ruled out. That injury blow came just days after confirmation that Junior Nsemba and Jack Farrimond had suffered hamstring injuries but Wigan fans would be thankful that Field’s injury was announced by Matt Peet not to be long term.
Albert Hopoate scored the opener from a brilliant Ewan Irwin assist before Irwin scored his own but Wigan’s youngsters then started to steal the show, with Josh Cartwright cutting through shortly after with the Warriors 12-6 down at half time.
Taylor Kerr then got in on the act shortly after half time before Zach Eckersley put Wigan in front for the first time after 50 minutes. Matty Ashton levelled the scores but tries from Kian McDermott and Austin Daniel secured the win for Wigan.
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Wigan Warriors and Warrington Wolves talking points
Pre-match stand-off
What’s a game between Wigan and Warrington without some drama? And this week, we had drama before the kick-off as there was a pre-game stand-off.
Wigan were still warming up just two minutes before kick off with it believed that they planned not to return to the dressing room and instead just kick off immediately after their warm up.
That plan was scuppered as according to Sky Sports, Warrington refused to leave the tunnel and enter the field until Wigan left the field and returned to the changing rooms.
Wigan did succumb to that request but Warrington were then made to wait in the tunnel with the game ultimately kicking off over five minutes late as a result.
Wire spurn huge chance
The value of finishing in the top two cannot be understated. Of all the Grand Final winners, 24 placed in the top two and a win tonight would have kept Warrington second and given them a true platform to finish in those positions.
Instead, they lost against a Wigan side without spine stars such as Field, French and Farrimond, without forwards Nsemba, Farrell, Walters, and with three of their back five playing just their second or third Super League games.
Warrington haven’t done the Super League double over Wigan in over a decade and they may have to wait as long for a chance to do it again. Yes, they’re without players, but they saw key players such as Toff Sipley and Toby King return tonight, whilst Ewan Irwin was also back in the halves rather than at full-back but they couldn’t get over the line even after taking a 12-0 lead.
Come the end of the weekend, Warrington could well find themselves sat in sixth, highlighting their recent struggles.
Controversial no try call
Jake Wardle thought he’d scored to level the game up approaching the end of the half, however, on-field official Marcus Griffiths didn’t believe the Wigan man grounded it and sent it up as ‘No Try’.
Video referee Jack Smith was then called upon and whilst a Warrington defender got their foot underneath the ball initially, it certainly looked as if the centre managed to ground the ball though Jack Smith disagreed.
He asserted that there was ‘insufficient evidence to overturn the live call’, a decision that certainly raised eyebrows and not just from the Wigan bench with pundit Jon Wilkin claiming that the fault lay with Marcus Griffiths, who he believed should have awarded the try in the first place.
“He has to be certain that’s no try and I don’t think it was. I think we’ve gone back to the old video referee system because had this just been checked in the background then this is given as a try. I think it’s an error from Marcus Griffiths,” claimed Wilkin.
Austin Daniel then saw his disallowed in the same circumstances, both on-field and then with no sufficient evidence to overturn, with Wigan surely left wondering what if Marcus Griffiths had just awarded both scores.
Even more controversial calls?
If Wigan’s no tries sparked conversation, the decision to overrule Ewan Irwin’s late equaliser may well trigger a massive debate. Unlike the two Wigan scores, Irwin’s score was awarded on the field before being overturned as part of the automatic video referee review.
Jack Smith deemed that the playmaker knocked the ball on as a result of full-back Josh Cartwright’s tackle, however, there will rightly be plenty of questions asked about that, not least from Sam Burgess.
Perhaps making that even more distressing for Warrington was commentator Kyle Amor’s belief that Kian McDermott’s go-ahead try was never grounded.
Shea O’Connor headlines Wigan’s wonderkids
In truth, you could lost any Wigan youngster here as having a standout match but Shea O’Connor is just such a throwback. The 18-year-old prop is just pure power and directness, yet he’s hardly even a man.
He got the better of George Delaney last week when he ran it back and on multiple occasions tonight, he won the collision against opponents who were far senior to him.
As mentioned, he was one of many with Kian McDermott and Taylor Kerr both scoring from the pack whilst winger Austin Daniel got on the score sheet, as well as full-back Josh Cartwright who scored one and saved another from Ewan Irwin, however, O’Connor gets the mention.
What a win for @WiganWarriorsRL 🍒⚪️#SuperLeague pic.twitter.com/35KQQ1SLqH
— Betfred Super League (@SuperLeague) July 10, 2026
