Derbies are always significant. No matter where the competing teams sit in the overall scheme of things there will always be an element of every fan base for whom victory over the neighbours is everything. So when you visit your rivals’ home with a chance of securing silverware - as Saints will when they take on Wigan on Friday night (August 26, kick-off 8.00pm) - the local spat takes on even more importance.
The champions head for the DW Stadium knowing that a win will secure a first League Leaders Shield since 2019, which is surprising in the context of their run of three consecutive Grand Final successes. The last time Kristian Woolf’s side were not Super League champions Russia was a charming, welcoming FIFA World Cup host rather than an aggressive, bloodthirsty pariah in the international community. The Duchess Of Sussex was still in Suits and the word ‘covid’ was yet to come into common usage.
So the world was a different place the last time anybody was good enough to knock Saints off their fucking perch. Yet for all of that they have not been able to finish top of the table under Woolf. That does not worry some with the Grand Final now well established as the be all and end all. While those of that persuasion may have a point, sitting on top of the table after the regular season still says something about your level of consistency. To confirm that consistency - especially at Wigan - would undoubtedly qualify as something to celebrate.
Wigan fans, players and coaching staff alike know this, however loudly they refute it. As such they will be desperate to prevent it from happening. Even if Saints’ six-point lead with three games remaining would appear to make their 10th League Leaders Shield something of an inevitability. There will still be a desire among Matty Peet’s side to avoid seeing James Roby hoist a trophy on Wigan soil. Even if that soil is rented. Besides, the Warriors have an incentive of their own outside of the fact that this is a derby and a chance to spoil the Saints party. Following Huddersfield’s loss to Leeds Rhinos last night (August 24) a win for Wigan will secure their own place inside the top two. That comes with a week off and puts you one home win away from Old Trafford.
It is hardly newsworthy by now to relay to you the fact that there are changes to the 21-man Saints squad. Whether it has been due to injuries or suspensions the need for change has been a constant thread running through the champions’ campaign. It has usually involved Will Hopoate and does again.
The ex-Canterbury Bulldog was withdrawn at half-time during Saints’ 38-12 win over Hull KR last time out with what was described by Woolf as a tight hamstring. We are advised that Hopoate’s substitution was precautionary and that he should still have a part to play in the run in and particularly the playoffs. Yet most Hopoate comebacks this year have been swiftly followed by further setbacks. It has to be a concern.
The reason it is such a great concern is that Saints are still without Lewis Dodd. The young halfback sustained an Achilles injury in the Good Friday derby back in April and was soon ruled out for the year. The effect of that was that it forced Woolf to move Jack Welsby into the halves from fullback. That’s fine if Hopoate is there to cover as the last line of defence, but when he isn’t then it often means that Welsby is dragged back into the number one role and Woolf has to use either Roby or Ben Davies as a makeshift half alongside Jonny Lomax. This makes a massive difference - some would argue a disproportionate one - to the fluidity of Saints attack. Which is the point at which Woolf starts turning the air blue with the c-word (clunky).
Although Woolf has lost one of the most important pieces in his puzzle in Hopoate he will be pleased to welcome back two other first team regulars from suspension. Curtis Sironen has missed the last two games after a high tackle in the win over Castleford Tigers on August 7 while Morgan Knowles sat out the visit of Rovers because of a shoulder charge in the 60-6 humiliation of Hull FC a week later. Both should come straight into the back row alongside Joe Batchelor with Sione Mata’utia still out with a foot injury. Last week’s starters James Bell and Jake Wingfield may have to content themselves with a place on the bench alongside Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook and Agnatius Paasi.
Both Bell and Wingfield may stay in the 17 if Woolf opts to continue with Roby in the halves. That would mean another start at 9 for Joey Lussick. McCarthy-Scarsbrook is somehow in line to play his 400th Super League game and - alongside Paasi - will spell starting front rowers Alex Walmsley and Matty Lees. Four hundred games is a fantastic achievement for the 36 year-old, now in his 12th season with Saints after starting his top flight career at London Broncos. The man has the longevity of the crocodile which has survived against all the odds for around 200 million years. It’s tempting to say it has felt like that long with McCarthy-Scarsbrook too but let’s not be scornful on an occasion to be celebrated. Oh. Too late.
The back division has been banged up for some time. Regan Grace was lost for the season and so to the forces of union forever after rupturing his Achilles at Salford, while if anybody has seen Mark Percival can they please alert the authorities as I am getting very worried about him. He hasn’t played since mid-May and has managed only 15 appearances in 2022. That’s only four more than Hopoate. Davies is the likely stand-in with Mata’utia still out.
Konrad Hurrell will take the other centre spot inside in form Tommy Makinson while outside Davies on the left wing should be Jon Bennison. There is a chance that the latter could be moved to fullback to allow Welsby back into the halves but with Dan Hill injured that would probably involve Woolf putting his faith in Josh Simm. Sadly, we appear to have reached cold day in Hell territory on that score.
Wigan put 52 points on Toulouse last week and Peet has made only one change to his 21. Mike Cooper - somewhat prematurely acquired from the Warrington shit show - returns from suspension at the expense of James McDonnell. Liam Marshall missed the Toulouse game but is named. While speedsters Jai Field and Bevan French have grabbed most of the headlines for Wigan this year Marshall has quietly amassed 18 tries in Super League. Only four players, including both French and Field, have crossed more often. Marshall also scored game winners in both the Challenge Cup semi-final against Saints and the final against Huddersfield. He looks a reasonable bet to replace Abbas Miski on the wing.
Strangely, Toby King is arriving on loan from Huddersfield next year, but for now you can expect Jake Bibby and Kai Pearce-Paul to occupy the centre berths. Sam Halsall is another option for Peet although what the acquisition of King means for him is uncertain. Cade Cust scored twice against Toulouse and should partner Harry Smith in the halves with Thomas Leuluai having been out for some time. Perhaps if you find Percival you’ll find Leuluai. Like McCarthy-Scarsbrook Leuluai appears to have been around since the dawn of time. The 37 year-old’s 325 Wigan appearances have come in two spells either side of a three-year stint at New Zealand Warriors where he made his professional debut all the way back in 2003.
Grubbery’s Sam Powell is out so Brad O’Neill should continue at hooker. Another Brad - ex-Leeds prop Singleton - will be looking to make amends having been sent off for a shoulder to the head of Sironen in Saints’ 20-18 Magic Weekend win over Wigan at Newcastle in July. Patrick Mago, Kaide Ellis, Liam Byrne, Oliver Partington, Joe Shorrocks and Cooper will all compete for places in the front row rotation. In the back row John Bateman and Liam Farrell are the genuine class of the forward group. Morgan Smithies will hope to take enough time off from chewing wasps to learn something off those two. Willie Isa will again be placed in sole charge of causing bother with unnecessary cheap shots.
That Magic Weekend meeting was one of three in all competitions so far in 2022. Saints won handily on Good Friday, conceding the first try to Field before running out 22-4 winners. Since when the teams have exchanged 20-18 wins. Wigan edged Saints out of the cup at Elland Road in May when Lomax’s errant pass was hoovered up by Marshall for the winning score while the Saints half got his own back in Newcastle by scoring the decisive try in support of Batchelor’s break.
History is littered with meetings between the two which had more on them than just bragging rights. They have met in four Grand Finals, Saints winning three to the Warriors’ one. The latest of those was an odd experience, behind closed doors at Hull during the pandemic-affected 2020 season when Jack Welsby’s last-gasp miracle turned then Wigan coach Adrian Lam into a meme.
There have also been six Challenge Cup finals between the two, with the current score standing at three wins apiece. Saints beat Wigan at Wembley twice in the 1960s (1961 & 1966) and also at Cardiff in 2004. Wigan’s Wembley triumphs over their old foes came in 1989 and 1991 while Edinburgh’s Murrayfield was the scene of their 2002 success.
In more recent times Saints’ last defeat at Wigan came five years ago, when Grace made a try-scoring debut in a 29-18 defeat.
What can we expect this time? I have to confess to a modicum of concern about this one. But those concerns are more about Saints and their c****iness rather than any great fear of Wigan. Peet’s side have racked up some big scores in recent times with 60 against Hull and 46 against Hull KR to add to the 52 they managed against Toulouse. But in their last seven they have a record of four wins and three losses. Along with that Wakefield defeat they were blown off the park by Leeds after that narrow derby loss at Newcastle.
Saints meanwhile have only lost one of their last seven, that being the thrashing at a currently rampant Salford. I’m just not certain that Saints will be as motivated as Wigan knowing that they have the comfort blanket of home meetings with Wakefield and Toulouse to come in order to finish the job of topping the league. And I still can’t help but fret about the attack without Dodd or Hopoate. I just have a sinking feeling that they’re going to get us this time. But that does not mean that they will get the Grand Final win that their fans on Twitter seem to think is a given.
Four in a row still looks the most likely outcome.
Squads;
Wigan Warriors;
- Bevan French 2. Jake Bibby 5. Liam Marshall 6. Cade Cust 8. Brad Singleton 10. Patrick Mago 11. Willie Isa 12. Liam Farrell 13. John Bateman 14. Morgan Smithies 15. Kaide Ellis 16. Harry Smith 17. Oliver Partington 20. Liam Byrne 21. Kai Pearce-Paul 22. Joe Shorrocks 23. Jai Field 24. Abbas Miski 25. Sam Halsall 28. Brad O’Neill 36. Mike Cooper
Saints;
- Jack Welsby, 2. Tommy Makinson, 6. Jonny Lomax, 8. Alex Walmsley, 9. James Roby, 10. Matty Lees, 12. Joe Batchelor, 13. Morgan Knowles, 14. Joey Lussick, 15. LMS, 16. Curtis Sironen, 17. Agnatius Paasi, 19. Jake Wingfield, 20. James Bell, 21. Josh Simm, 22. Ben Davies, 23. Konrad Hurrell, 24. Dan Norman, 26. Sam Royle, 27. Jon Bennison, 28. Lewis Baxter.
Referee: Ben Thaler
Video Referee: Robert Hicks
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