SOMETIMES Rugby League delivers something that is actually quite remarkable, if not unbelievable.

Just when we think we’ve seen everything, we suddenly realise that we haven’t.

A week ago Sky Sports reminded us of some of the greatest moments in the 30-year history of Super League.

It was wonderful to be able to relive those moments and to reflect on the many outstanding milestones the game has achieved during that time.

But then less than a week later we had the latest instalment of the oldest derby in sport – any sport, anywhere in the world – between St Helens and Wigan.

And this game served up what can only be described as a fairy tale ending, at least if you are a St Helens supporter.

Saints were 14 points down with a little over eight minutes to go and they ended up winning by ten points.

Presumably, if Super League is still being broadcast by Sky in another ten years, the channel will celebrate the 40th birthday of the competition. And I can predict with some confidence the game that will be recalled with the greatest relish.

And it wasn’t just that Saints staged such a remarkable comeback, with four tries in the final eight minutes, but that it was crowned with two tries by a player who had been borrowed from Hull KR and who may never play for St Helens again.

Bill Leyland certainly won’t feature for them against Catalans Dragons in the Challenge Cup this Friday night.

But whether he returns is a question that only Hull KR and St Helens officials would be able to answer. 

After the game, Saints coach Paul Rowley made it clear that he hopes to see Leyland again playing for Saints in Super League, and it would indeed seem very strange to see Leyland playing for Hull KR reserves rather than playing in Super League. He is clearly ready not just to be a squad player, but potentially a star player.

On Friday he came onto the field on 57 minutes to give Daryl Clark a deserved rest.

He came onto the field shortly after Jai Field had scored Wigan’s third try to put them 18-10 ahead. He immediately went into the dummy-half position to fill in for Clark.

But when Zach Eckersley scored Wigan’s fourth try on 68 minutes, to put them 14 points ahead, the game looked to be over.

When Jackson Hastings scored Saints’ third try on 72 minutes, which came from an inside pass off the touchline by Lewis Murphy, it looked like nothing more than a consolation, with Hastings almost being pushed over the dead-ball line by Wigan fullback Field.

But then three minutes later Tristan Sailor got over the line and managed to plant the ball down and suddenly the deficit was down to two points.

I know that their fans always tell us to never write off the Saints, but surely they weren’t about to get out of jail!

And that is precisely what they were going to do – thanks to Leyland.

On 78 minutes he pounced from dummy-half to take the marker defenders over the line with him in front of the Wigan supporters, who surely couldn’t believe what they were witnessing.

And then, in a moment of desperation, Harry Smith tried a short kick-off that was palmed back towards the Wigan line. Field tried to catch it but it bounced over his head and Leyland, charging up in pursuit of the ball, found that fortune favours the brave as the ball landed in his arms with no one in front of him and he touched down for his second try to seal the game.

And it was remarkable to reflect on the fact that those two tries were his first in Super League.

Saints had come into the game with a host of players out through injuries. Mark Percival, Matty Lees, Jack Welsby, Jonny Lomax, Jacob Host, Nene Macdonald, Jake Burns and Alex Walmsley were all missing.

Desperate times call for desperate measures, so Saints approached Hull KR, who had put 52 points on them the previous week, to borrow both Leyland and Jordan Dezaria, who also proved his worth against Wigan.

But after the game, all the attention was on Leyland, and his is a story that almost certainly wouldn’t have happened in the early days of Super League.

He was born in Maidstone in Kent in 2003. His brother Oli is a couple of years older and plays for Warrington.

Both siblings played for Invicta Panthers as juniors. They both attended Maidstone Grammar School and Bill graduated from St Mary’s University in Twickenham.

He joined London Broncos’ first-team squad at the start of the 2022 season, making his professional debut against York Knights that year.

In 2023 he was the Championship Young Player of the Year, when he played in the Championship Grand Final victory against Toulouse Olympique that saw the Broncos promoted to Super League.

Unfortunately he suffered an ACL injury in the 2024 pre-season that prevented him making any Super League appearances for the Broncos.

The following season he joined Hull KR and made eleven appearances off the bench in 2025, while this year he has appeared three times for Hull KR – twice in the Challenge Cup and once in Super League – each time off the bench.

His appearances have been restricted because Jez Litten happens to be the best number nine in the business and occupies that role in the first team at Hull KR.

But Bill wants first-team action.

And after watching him on Friday, who can say he doesn’t deserve it?