WIGAN WARRIORS 34 HULL FC 6
DAVID KUZIO, The Brick Community Stadium, Saturday

WIGAN sent a clear message to Hull KR and the rest of Super League that they will do everything in their power to win silverware this season after ending 2025 empty handed.

The Warriors blew Hull FC away in the first half, scoring four unanswered tries to lead by 24 points at the break.

Last season, Hull came back from 22-6 down here to win in the Challenge Cup, but there was no chance of that happening as Bevan French and Jai Field crossed in the second half to take two competition points and put Wigan top of the table at the end of round two.

Wigan started the brightest and opened the scoring after just five minutes. A towering bomb from Harry Smith was spilled by Will Pryce, then another kick from Smith caused further problems and was knocked back for Sam Walters to touch down.

Adam Keighran converted, as he did for all of the Warriors’ first five tries.

Wigan kept Hull on the back foot with a penalty that saw them move upfield. Some slick hands created an overlap and Zach Eckersley was on hand to score in the corner for 12-0.

The hosts were dominating all over the field, and everything seemed to be clicking. They thought they had their third try when Field went over, but it was checked by the video referee and ruled out for an obstruction by Liam Farrell.

Sam Eseh entered the fray for his Wigan Super League debut and soon made a huge impact. After Liam Marshall was denied a walk-in score in the corner, Harvey Barron dropped the ball metres from his line on the second tackle and Eseh was on hand to touch down for his first Warriors try.

Hull were struggling to catch their breath as Wigan were relentless, and they grabbed their fourth try as Field spotted a gap, evaded a tackle and crawled his way over the line.

If any doubt remained, the game was put well out of Hull’s reach three minutes into the second half as French took a ball from Brad O’Neill and stepped his way over to put the hosts 30 points in front with Keighran’s final goal.

Hull had a rare attack as a long ball found Lewis Martin in space, but he was brought down before the ball went to the other wing with Barron bundled into touch.

Smith was involved in everything that was good about Wigan. Every time he had the ball in his hands, he looked dangerous and Hull struggled to contain him.

French came into his own in the second period and could have had a couple more tries, but Hull defended well at times to frustrate.

Both sides ended the game with twelve men. First Liam Knight was shown a yellow card for a spear tackle on Walters, with the Warriors taking immediate advantage as Field grabbed his second.

Keighran missed the conversion attempt and was then sinbinned himself for a late and high shot on Pryce.

That allowed the visitors to post their only points of the game with former Warrior Harvie Hill breaking a couple of tackles to score and Pryce converting before the latter was forced off by injury at the very end.

GAMESTAR: Harry Smith was excellent for Wigan. Jai Field and Bevan French will always get the plaudits, but Smith is the one that controls everything.

GAMEBREAKER: French’s try just after half-time ended any chance of an unlikely comeback, and from that moment it was a training session for the Warriors.

HIGHLIGHT REEL: Wigan scored some great tries, but Zach Eckersley’s was the pick of the bunch as he ended a flowing passing move that went through several pairs of hands.

ALBERT GOLDTHORPE POINTS
3 pts Harry Smith (Wigan)
2 pts Jai Field (Wigan)
1 pt Oliver Partington (Wigan)

MATCHFACTS

WARRIORS
1 Jai Field
2 Zach Eckersley
3 Adam Keighran
12 Liam Farrell
5 Liam Marshall
6 Bevan French
7 Harry Smith
8 Ethan Havard
9 Brad O’Neill
10 Luke Thompson
11 Junior Nsemba
14 Sam Walters
13 Kaide Ellis
Subs (all used)
15 Patrick Mago
17 Oliver Partington
20 Sam Eseh
22 Tom Forber
18th man (not used)
32 Dayon Sambou
Also in 21-man squad
19 Jack Farrimond
23 Kian McDermott
25 Taylor Kerr

Tries: Walters (5), Eckersley (8), Eseh (20), Field (33, 73), French (43)
Goals: Keighran 5/6
Sin bin: Keighran (76) – late tackle

HULL FC
1 Will Pryce
2 Harvey Barron
21 Arthur Romano
3 Davy Litten
5 Lewis Martin
14 Cade Cust
7 Aidan Sezer
17 Liam Knight
9 Amir Bourouh
10 Harvie Hill
11 Joe Batchelor
12 Jed Cartwright
20 Yusuf Aydin
Subs (all used)
16 Sam Lisone
22 Connor Bailey
23 Brad Fash
27 Callum Kemp
18th man (not used)
25 Matty Laidlaw
Also in 21-man squad
19 Tom Briscoe
24 Logan Moy
32 Lloyd Kemp

Tries: Hill (77)
Goals: Pryce 1/1
Sin bin: Knight (71) – dangerous tackle

SCORING SEQUENCE: 6-0, 12-0, 18-0, 24-0; 30-0, 34-0, 34-6

Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Warriors: Harry Smith; Hull FC: Harvie Hill

Penalty count: 7-7
Half-time: 24-0
Referee: Tom Grant
Attendance: 16,620