Wigan 2-26 St Helens: Player ratings and major talking points

Tonight, St Helens well and truly claimed the bragging rights in Rivals Round as they kept Wigan tryless in their own back yard. The Saints were smart and composed from start to finish as they punished Wigan’s ill-discipline.

Major Talking Points:

1. Fast and slow beginnings

It’s well documented how effective St Helens have been this season in the opening 20 minutes of games. They often draw first blood and do all the damage in the first quarter. Equally, it has been noted just how much Wigan tend to struggle at the starts of games conceding over 100 points in the opening 20 minutes of matches this season. People worried whether that such a trend could be Wigan’s undoing today and it was . Yes, Saints didn’t pull away completely but they tired the Warriors out at the start of the game and opened the scoring giving themselves complete control over the contest.

2. Ill-discipline the word of the day

It’s rare that we see so many yellow cards in one game. James Bentley and Willie Isa spent 10 minutes on the sidelines whilst John Bateman found himself in the sin bin twice. What’s worse, they were just the incidents caught by the referee. There were plenty more in a physical affair that often crossed the line into foul play. It slowed down the momentum of the game and ended up damaging Wigan’s chances.

3. Dynamic Dodd

It’s often hard for youngsters no matter how good to impress in the biggest derbies as they descend into physical battles. But today, Lewis Dodd stole the show as he stole the ball to poach St Helens’ second try but that was just the tip of the iceberg where his dynamic and creative performance was concerned.

Player Ratings:

Wigan
3 Zak Hardaker – 6
22 Jake Bibby – 6
11 Willie Isa – 5
4 Oliver Gildart – 6
5 Liam Marshall – 6
31 Jackson Hastings – 7
20 Harry Smith – 6
21 Ethan Havard – 6
25 Joe Shorrocks – 7
14 Ollie Partington – 6
12 Liam Farrell – 7
27 Kai Pearce-Paul – 6
15 Morgan Smithies – 6
Substitutes
10 Joe Bullock – 6
13 John Bateman – 5
19 Liam Byrne – 6
33 Amir Bourouh – 5

St Helens
1 Lachlan Coote – 8
3 Kevin Naiqama – 6
18 Jack Welsby – 7
4 Mark Percival – 8
5 Regan Grace – 8
6 Jonny Lomax – 6
21 Lewis Dodd – 8
8 Alex Walmsley – 7
9 James Roby – 7
10 Matty Lees – 8
11 Joel Thompson – 6
12 James Bentley – 7
13 Morgan Knowles – 8
Substitutes
15 Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook – 6
17 Agnatius Paasi – 6
19 Aaron Smith – 6
20 Joe Batchelor – 7