Betfred Super League
Wigan (28) 64
Tries: Marshall 2, Field 3, French 2, Eckersley, Wardle, Leeming 2 Goals: Keighran 10
Salford (0) 0
Wigan Warriors secured the League Leaders’ Shield for the second consecutive season by scoring 11 tries in a dominant win against an understrength Salford Red Devils.
Wigan – who have now won three of the four trophies on offer to them in 2024 and could still lift all four – went into their final game of the regular season knowing they would finish top of Super League if they avoided defeat.
That prospect appeared almost certain when Salford, already guaranteed a play-off spot, elected to rest several first-choice players in preparation for their eliminator tie next week and gave Super League debuts to eight players.
Wigan winger Liam Marshall, Super League’s leading try scorer in 2024, took his tally for the season to 27 by crossing twice – his second a length-of-the-field sprint to the line.
There was a hat-trick of tries for full-back Jai Field, while hooker Kruise Leeming and Bevan French both touched down twice.
Zach Eckersley and Jake Wardle added further scores in a one-sided contest at Brick Community Stadium as the hosts won the League Leaders’ Shield back-to-back for the first time in their history.
Fourth-placed Salford await for the outcome of Friday’s game between Leigh and St Helens to discover whether they will play at home or away in their play-off opener. If Saints do not win, Salford will have a home fixture.
Wigan collect third trophy of year
The League Leaders’ Shield is Wigan’s third trophy of 2024 and they are straight through to the semi-final stage of the play-offs, where a victory will send them to the Grand Final at Old Trafford on 12 October.
Hull KR and Warrington have been challenging Matt Peet’s side for Super League’s top spot in the closing weeks of the regular season.
The Warriors registered a key win on 6 September when they narrowly defeated Rovers to move back to the summit, and they secured another piece of silverware on Thursday courtesy of their sixth consecutive victory.
Former Wigan and Great Britain coach Brian Noble, working as a pundit for BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, said his former club were “deserved” League Leaders’ Shield winners.
He added: “They had a little bit of a wobble in the middle part of the year, but their form has been really good towards the back end.
“This will be nice, but they won’t get carried away lifting this one because it’s not the major one.”
Their latest success follows victory over NRL champions Penrith in February’s World Club Challenge and June’s Challenge Cup final win over Warrington at Wembley.
Wigan remain on course to become the fourth club to win the treble of League Leaders’ Shield, Grand Final and Challenge Cup in the same year during the Super League era, with Bradford (2003), St Helens (2006) and Leeds (2015) all previously achieving that feat.
‘We deserve to enjoy this’
Wigan hooker Kruise Leeming, speaking to BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra:
“What a night, what an occasion for us.
“I know the scoreline blew out a little bit there but we’ve worked so hard as a team to get to this point and we deserve to enjoy this.
“It’s not about any individual game, it’s about the highs and lows and the rollercoaster we’ve been on.
“We’ve been fantastic in areas and there are areas to improve, but everything came together tonight. I know they were low on players and we get that, but we still had to go out and play our opposition and I thought we did that.”
Wigan coach Matt Peet, speaking to BBC Radio Manchester:
“It does say a lot about where we’re at in terms of consistency. It gives us a home semi-final and the players can enjoy the moment. We will celebrate and then next week we’ll start up again.
“We’ve always been a pretty consistent club, the trophies and the performances of the players speak for themselves. This team continues the attitude of winning, enjoying rugby and entertaining the fans.”
Salford head coach Paul Rowley, speaking to BBC Radio Manchester:
“We picked a young, inexperienced side to face the world champions. They approached that with excitement and enthusiasm, and I thought they displayed that in bucketloads.
“I thought the youngsters, in particular, were fantastic and competed for everything, clearly playing against a superior team in Wigan. I’m very proud of them.
“My objective is to have a fit squad going into the big games, the play-off games, and, in that respect, we were able to do that by utilising the squad and the youngsters.”
Line-ups
Wigan: Field; Eckersley, Keighran, Wardle, Marshall; French, Smith; Havard, Leeming, Thompson, Nsemba, Farrell, Ellis.
Interchanges: Byrne, Mago, Dupree, Forber.
Salford: Atkin; Fitzgerald, B Glover, Wagstaffe, Connell; Cust, Morgan; Ormondroyd, Bourouh, Sidlow, Hellewell, McCurrie, Wilson.
Interchanges: Pye, C Glover, Bardyel-Wells, Gatcliffe.
Referee: Chris Kendall.