Wigan Warriors’ spine will have ‘set alarm bells ringing’ across Super League with their performance on Friday night. That’s according to Sky Sports pundit Jon Wilkin, who almost ran out of superlatives to describe the displays and influence of Harry Smith, Jai Field and Bevan French as Wigan trounced Leeds Rhinos 38-0.
The trio pulled all the strings at the Brick Community Stadium with the pace and ingenuity of French and Field creating holes in the Leeds backline almost at will, while Smith’s kicking game was inch perfect as Brad Arthur’s side struggled to keep their head above water. French got himself over the line twice and claimed an assist while Smith claimed three try assists on the night.
With the play-offs edging ever closer and Old Trafford within sight, Wigan appear to be hitting top form with their star men all hitting their stride at the right time.
“I think there was a fluidity and silkiness between Smith, Field and French that set alarm bells ringing around the league,” Wilkin said when dissecting the Wigan Warriors performance on TV.
“The combination of those players, the movement, the deception they offered the Leeds defence and the challenges they posed the Leeds defenders, the way in which they broke Leeds down, not necessarily through shifting the ball but kicking the ball. The creativity in the kicking game from all of them and the speed and intensity it just can’t be matched by a spine in the competition.”
He added: “The accuracy from Harry Smith was exquisite all night, he hit his mark every time and the chase off the back of it was just stunning.”
That’s a notion Jamie Jones-Buchanan, who was the other pundit on the broadcast, found it hard to disagree with.
“When you work together for a period of time on and off the training field and you have that selflessness to think about what other people are doing and you do it enough times with a little bit of risk and confidence that builds over time, you create that synchronicity,” the former Leeds man said.
“You wonder who the designer of all that is, to have Tommy Leuluai and some of the work they’re doing on the training field, or is the players coming up with it themselves? Even bigger, how do you preview that and legislate for it as a defensive coach?”
