STEPHEN IBBETSON reflects on Wigan Warriors’ stunning victory over league leaders Catalans Dragons in Perpignan.
WITH one remarkable result in Perpignan, we have an extraordinary race for top spot in Super League on our hands. What a shame, then, that nobody really gives a damn about it.
Such is the way with our play-off structure, the League Leaders’ Shield is a meaningless accessory even to the clubs and players ‘competing’ for it.
There are rare exceptions, usually when teams win it for the first time – think Huddersfield in 2013, Castleford in 2017, or Catalans in 2021 (and no prizes for spotting what the end of their seasons all had in common).
But otherwise, finishing top of the league table is nothing more than a neat little boost ahead of the three weeks of the entire season that actually matter.
For the record, Wigan are tied second with St Helens, equally comfortable victors over Castleford on Friday night, with the two rivals just a win shy of leaders Catalans.
With four rounds to go, a gripping race then – if only. Instead the real significance from Wigan’s statement victory over Catalans is what it all means for their play-off prospects.
Firstly, perhaps we could be guilty of making too much of it. This has been a wildly, gloriously unpredictable season, and this is just the latest result to blow up everything we thought we knew.
But it will be a huge shock to the system of Catalans, whose vulnerability in a big game has been exposed.
Their performance was as ugly as their State Gilbert Brutus pitch, reportedly ruined by a fungal infection after borrowing a lawnmower from rugby union neighbours USAP. The reasons for the Dragons’ display will take longer to work out.
One major reason, however, was the excellence of Wigan. Beaten 48-0 and 28-0 in their previous two visits to the south of France, they were at it from minute one, their forward pack full of aggression, their line speed ferocious, and their mentality calm and collected.
They shut down every one of Catalans’ major threats – and there are many – with ruthless efficiency in what may be their best performance in almost two years under coach Matt Peet.
It was a whole team performance, make no mistake, but four individuals in particular stood out.
The one who most summed up the game was Liam Byrne, understated and usually unheralded like every prop. His performance can be appreciated simply by the first and last involvements.
In the second minute, he was forced off by loss of blood after a hefty clash of heads. In the final minute, he put in a monster hit on Romain Navarrete. In between, bruised and bandaged but never beaten, Byrne was central to a tireless Wigan effort in the middle.
Behind them, there was artistry in the backs, especially from the one good French performance – that of Bevan.
His soft kick set up the Warriors’ first try of the opening 40 and his soft hands set up their last of it, while he also scored a sensational solo try, running straight at the defensive line at an angle and barely deviating from it, yet managing with his sheer pace – and the threat of other tricks up his sleeve – to slice through.
French’s move to stand-off – now a third position in which he is perhaps Super League’s best player, after fullback and wing – has been a great success, and even more so because it has presented a place in the team for Abbas Miski.
The Lebanon winger scored a hat-trick – his third in less than a month – by benefitting from the two aforementioned French assists and then opening the second-half scoring from a cut-out Jai Field ball.
The owner of Super League’s biggest calves also produced a wonderful assist in the first half for Toby King, casually outjumping his six-foot-five team-mate Kai Pearce-Paul.
And then there was Harry Smith, a favourite scapegoat in tough times but usually influential in all the good ones.
Here his goal kicking, after a shaky start, was on point, but his kicking from open play was most eye-catching. Numerous times he turned Catalans around with brilliantly weighted kicks from deep, and he also struck a late 40/20.
Lots to be positive about, then, for Wigan. Produce this again in October, and they will have something to celebrate.
