Sat 5th Oct: SL SF: Wigan Warriors v Leigh Leopards KO 17:30 (Sky/BBC)

[Henson Park Old Firm]

Leigh all the way! 

[StandOffHalf]

3 hours ago, George Watt said:

Not me as I commented on here after the Penrith v Wigan WCC match earlier this year that Wigan would be in it again in 2025 but Penrith would not!

 

You may well be right. I do rather fancy Melbourne and Wigan are obviously the unbackable favourites in their comp.

[Damien]

Wigans ground has its knockers but with a 20k+ crowd it's one of the best for atmosphere:

[Leyther_Matt]

8 minutes ago, Damien said:

Wigans ground has its knockers but with a 20k+ crowd it's one of the best for atmosphere:

Going to be absolutely bouncing tonight 

[Gerrumonside ref]

7 minutes ago, Leyther_Matt said:

Going to be absolutely bouncing tonight 

Well done both teams for this bumper crowd.

What is the biggest Wigan-Leigh game ever historically and how does this compare in terms of crowd size and importance of game?

Give us the lowdown on the rivalry’s biggest games if you don’t mind for us neutrals.

[Leyther_Matt]

3 minutes ago, Gerrumonside ref said:

Well done both teams for this bumper crowd.

What is the biggest Wigan-Leigh game ever historically and how does this compare in terms of crowd size and importance of game?

Give us the lowdown on the rivalry’s biggest games if you don’t mind for us neutrals.

In my lifetime (aged 37, first game 1992), we’ve spent precious few years in the same division and for a lot of Leigh fans of my age Wigan aren’t necessarily the big rivalry, with Widnes and Salford* generally taking that title.

That said, Wigan have pretty much always been the standard to aim for, and sticking 50 on them in 2017 will live long in the memory, even if it was ultimately useless in trying to stay up that year.

The only relative comparison is the 2002 Challenge Cup quarter final against a Wigan side that would win it that year and had some incredible players in Dallas, Farrell, Furner and of course our own Adrian Lam. Wigan won 30-16 that day but had a hell of a fright in front of just short of 10,000 - I’d never seen Hilton Park so full.

Winning the Challenge Cup at Wembley was always a lifelong dream, and although I’ll always have a small part of me that wishes we won it in cherry and white, nothing is ever going to come close to that. Winning tonight and then walking out at Old Trafford next week would certainly be up in second, though.

And all 10 years to the day since we beat Featherstone at Headingley in the Championship Grand Final and rewarded with nowt other than a Shield and about 20 quid prize money. Never forget where you came from.

*As a small aside, my Facebook memories has been throwing up when Salford won at Wigan to get to Old Trafford and I literally booked a holiday to Majorca to make sure I was nowhere near the place on Grand Final day. Salford mates have already messaged me this morning saying they hope we get battered, and I wouldn’t have it any other way  

[Wilderspoolmemories]

Wigan comfortably. 

By about 20 I would say.

[Dave T]

I can't see past Wigan, who can be pretty ruthless, but I do like the stubbornness of this Leigh team, so hopefully they can stay in the game and put pressure on Wigan.

Hopefully another cracking game.

[DG70]

If Leigh didn't have an owner who is something of a prat then I'd be rooting for the underdog.....Wigan by 16.

[Leyther_Matt]

8 minutes ago, DG70 said:

If Leigh didn't have an owner who is something of a prat then I'd be rooting for the underdog.....Wigan by 16.

The owner isn’t the club or the fans  

[Fevrover]

37 minutes ago, Leyther_Matt said:

The owner isn’t the club or the fans  

No but if it wasn't for his money £££ Leigh wouldn't be where they are now.

[Dunbar]

I'm a Wigan lad and supported Wigan all my life.

But for a long time I have considered myself more a fan of the sport than a single team (maybe because I haven't lived in Wigan for 35+ years).

Under normal circumstances I would want the Grand Final to have two new teams and, however hard it would have been to see them defeat Wigan, I would even have been happy for Leigh to get there a few years ago.

But I'm sorry, I have to support Wigan today.  I know it is a personal failing on my part but I cannot in good faith back a team that has grown men in leopard print supporting them.

So, come on Wigan.

[fieldofclothofgold]

Yes there are have been some tacky strips recently, but that one takes the prize 

[JohnM]

In my opinion,  the team that scores the most points should be regarded as the winner.

In my opinion, it would be a shame if the main talking points are about officials decisions, or players claimed to be cheating.

Bring it on!

[Dunbar]

12 minutes ago, JohnM said:

In my opinion,  the team that scores the most points should be regarded as the winner.

If they aren't, it will be a massive scandal.  I expect it will be called Pointsgate!

[northamptoncougar]

That Wigan pack is absolutely massive and I think the bench is even bigger 

[Wilderspoolmemories]

Let's hope we don't have any calls like the Burgess try issue from last night, this evening! 

It would be a shame if both semi finals ended up shrouded in controversy.

[MrIzzard]

I'm just hoping Field has a bad hair day.

[Click]

2 minutes ago, Wilderspoolmemories said:

Let's hope we don't have any calls like the Burgess try issue from last night, this evening! 

It would be a shame if both semi finals ended up shrouded in controversy.

Get over it, it's done 

[Futtocks]

Anyone running a sweepstake on how soon the first complaint will be after coverage starts?

[JohnM]

18 minutes ago, Dunbar said:

If they aren't, it will be a massive scandal.  I expect it will be called Pointsgate!

The point being that, whatever the outcome, someone, somewhere, sometime, somehow will claim that their team was cheated out of victory because of something from someone .

[Sports Prophet]

I don’t know what the crowd on TRL Forums think, but nothing pumps me up more for a huge, GF Qualifier than a rendition of ABBA and Waterloo.

Credit to the RFL’s match day team where it’s due. Bravo, bravo

[EagleEyePie]

This should be another fantastic game. Wigan obviously favourites but Leigh are a good team, in excellent form, and know how to win finals thanks to last years cup exploits.

The biggest issue for Wigan could be the less than ideal preparation. There are lots of parallels with the 2022 season where we came into the semi finals after a week off, challenge cup holders, facing the 5th placed team who were in good form, but having two uncompetitive games to end the regular season. That season we couldn't raise our game in that semi final and things just didn't click.

Farrell could be a big loss. Leigh are very good at attacking on their left edge and therefore our right. Before Farrell was moved there we were all over the place defensively on that edge. Farrell fixed that issue and hasn't really got enough credit for it because it's allowed Nsemba to play on the left and look even stronger. Walters could be an issue. Even in victory against Catalans his defence was poor and it's no surprise he got dropped from the team. He's now thrown in at the deep end and is the perfect player for someone like Ipape to exploit

[Gerrumonside ref]

7 minutes ago, Wilderspoolmemories said:

Let's hope we don't have any calls like the Burgess try issue from last night, this evening! 

It would be a shame if both semi finals ended up shrouded in controversy.

Still smarting from that haha!

[Sports Prophet]

1 minute ago, Sports Prophet said:

I don’t know what the crowd on TRL Forums think, but nothing pumps me up more for a huge, GF Qualifier than a rendition of ABBA and Waterloo.

Credit to the RFL’s match day team where it’s due. Bravo, bravo

Oh no they didn’t, they’ve only gone and outdone themselves with Jacko and Beat It!

I think the NRL might need a quick call to the RFL team for tomorrow’s GF.