Fans and media alike are still getting their breath back after Wakefield Trinity dominated Wigan Warriors in the Super League semi-finals, with pundit Sam Tomkins arguing it to be the ‘biggest shock of the year’.
Trinity upset their 5/1 odds to win 33-6 in an incredible performance that saw them head to Wigan’s backyard and dissect a team that was on the brink of a second treble in three years.
Not only that but Wigan were on a winning run dating back to May with the Warriors having won eight of their ten Super League games against fellow top six sides in 2026, but that meant little as Wakefield tore them apart.
Speaking post-match on Sky Sports, pundit Jon Wilkin scrambled to make sense of the result, stating: “We want to turn everything into numbers and things that we can quantify and understand. You can’t understand sport at times. You cannot make sense of what Wakefield have just done to Wigan.
“It’s unfathomable but that’s what’s exquisite about this time of year in rugby league.”
Sam Tomkins agreed, stating: “That wasn’t a normal performance. It was that far above what we expected Wakefield could possibly do. It’s frightening compared to what we’ve seen.”
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Wakefield Trinity performance one for the Super League history books
In a season that started with a major upset as York Knights knocked off Hull KR, it might just be the biggest of the year, at least in Sam Tomkins’ eyes.
He said: “That’s the biggest shock of the year. That’s by far, for me, the biggest shock of the year. I did not see that coming. I didn’t know Wigan could be nullified for as long as they did, scoring six points in the semi-final. A Wigan side that, in very recent history, have blown teams away in semi-finals.
“No one’s done that to a Wigan side and to do it on the biggest stage for the first time, that didn’t look like a side that’s not played playoff rugby very much, did it?”
Incredibly it was only Wakefield’s seventh Super League play-off game in their history yet they looked comfortable in the cauldron that was the Brick Community Stadium, making Wigan look ordinary.
On Wigan’s below-par performance, Jon Wilkin argued: “I think Wakefield made that happen. I think Wigan were bad, but that was completely induced by what Wakefield threw at them.
“It was a clinical performance that was full of power, pace, energy, enthusiasm, execution. Nobody would have competed with Wakefield today. Not one team in the Super League and I’d go as far as to say that some of the great teams we’ve had in the history of the Super League wouldn’t have competed with that 80 minutes that Wakefield dished up.”
