Never Write Off The Saints.
It may be fanciful to suggest that miracles are in the DNA of this club but the evidence is mounting. To Bobbie's Bombs, Wide To West, Warrington 2005 and last season's Left To Wright add Good Friday 2026. Fourteen points down with eight minutes left - and with a who's who of rugby league sat in the stands - Paul Rowley's side offered up another out of body experience.
Not only did Saints win from that hopeless position, they won by 10 points. In the process, on loan hooker Bill Leyland etched himself into Saints folklore. It's far from certain that he'll ever play again for the club. But if he goes back to Hull KR and never returns he will not be forgotten.
All of this would be remarkable enough without the fact that it happened in the midst of an injury crisis. Saints were without 12 players, all with recent Super League experience. The full list - Jack Welsby, Kyle Feldt (suspended), Nene McDonald, Mark Percival, Jonny Lomax, George Whitby, Alex Walmsley, Jake Burns, Matty Lees, Curtis Sironen, George Delaney, Jacob Host.
It was this predicament that led Rowley to move for a loan deal for Leyland along with his Hull KR teammate Jordan Dezaria. Both went straight into the 17 on the bench. Ex-Wigan halfback Jackson Hastings was fit to take his place in the starting 13 despite the rumour fanciers speculating that he may not be. However, he left the goal-kicking to Tristan Sailor which is possibly indicative of a medical issue but not one significant enough to keep him out.
Within five minutes the situation got worse for Rowley and Saints. Agnatius Paasi's one year deal was met largely with hastily tweeted derision. The Tongan's popularity has tanked in line with his productivity since the serious knee injury inflicted on him by John Asiata in 2023. If everyone is fit he doesn't play and we're scratching our heads about why he's been retained. But he's featured in the last four and was desperately needed here for his experience. That is until his hamstring gave way and he left the scene for the day. And probably longer.
With Paasi off early and so many other front rowers unavailable Wigan were territorially dominant almost throughout. Saints were constantly battling for decent field position that they didn't often get. Play-the-balls in Wigan's half of the field were vanishingly rare. Even if Saints were helped by the kicking of honkingly overrated Wigan halfback Harry Smith. He kicked the ball dead to offer Saints 7-tackle sets on four occasions. But he also opened the try scoring when he faked left, danced around Noah Stephens and waltzed over as Shane Wright took on a spectator's role.
But if we feared a domino effect in which a depleted Saints ambled towards an inevitable defeat, it didn't quite play out that way. It wasn't until Zach Eckersley crossed in the north west corner, converted by Adam Keighran, that Matty Peet's side looked safe. Matt Whitley and Daryl Clark had responded to further efforts by Jacob Farrimond and Jai Field to keep things close on the scoreboard. Fans who insist they don't mind losing as long as there is effort could have had no complaints. Saints had given it a really good dig until Eckersley's score appeared to seal their fate.
Among those who thought so was Sky commentator Dave Woods. Having watched the broadcast back over the weekend I was more shocked than I should have been to hear this experienced broadcaster announcing that Eckersley 'wins it for Wigan'. Woods should have known better to write off the Saints. Even if most of us in the stadium had written ourselves off.
Saints wouldn't have been in a position to mount any kind of comeback had it not been for some heroic defensive efforts earlier in the piece. Jake Wingfield - a man much maligned on these pages in the past - came up with two outstanding try saving interventions. First he managed to hold up Kade Ellis when the loose forward crashed over from close range. Then he helped deny Sam Walters in similar fashion. It was exactly the kind of determination and attitude that was going to be needed on this day.
It was an eventful afternoon for Wingfield. He had earlier made an allegation to referee Jack Smith that he had been spat at by Brad O'Neill. The hooker is one of Wigan's leading grubs but the only footage I have seen seems inconclusive. You can see a mouth movement that would be consistent with spitting but you can't see any unwanted, unseemly projectiles. This probably isn't Frank Rijkaard and Rudi Voller in 1990 but there will be further investigation.
Lewis Murphy - who had what could most kindly be referred to as a mixed afternoon - also got the memo about the importance of defence. Keighran looked certain to score but for the winger's intervention. It made up for a number of handling errors and poor decisions during the 80 minutes. Keeping the ball in play while wrongly believing he was headed for touch is one that stands out. As does his failure to jump for the high ball which Eckersley batted into the path of Farrimond for his try. But then the former Wakefield man did break down the left to create the chaos for Hastings' try which got the comeback under way. Six-seven, as the youth apparently say.
But perhaps the most important defensive effort - not least for its degree of difficulty - belonged to Harry Robertson. Field made a rare break down the Wigan left only to be run down and felled by the Saints man. Questions will be asked about how fit Field is following his return from injury for this one, but let it take nothing away from a monumental play by Robertson. If Field gets away there it's probably time to shut the gate.
Keighran is developing a reputation as a bit of a penalty machine. Well, he's in the right place to nurture that ability after all. He conceded three in this one, the last of which set up Sailor's try which brought Saints to within two points. The former Brisbane man took Hastings' pass and twisted away from Farrimond and Field to touch down. He converted it himself and suddenly the impossible looked not only possible but as likely as not. Wigan looked frazzled at this point, the realisation dawning that there was more to do before they could relax.
Which is where Bill comes in. But before we get to Leyland's moments of immortality it's only right and proper to give Robertson another literary pat on the back. His skilful kick and chase forced the goal-line dropout from which Saints were able to build another attack. Hastings was held up short but at the following play-the-ball Leyland deftly slid through a fairly apologetic tackle attempt by Field to ensure his place in derby history.
But Leyland wasn't finished there. There was still hope for Wigan. Regather possession from a short restart and there was time on the clock to score another try of their own. But in the end they were thwarted by a bad bounce and Leyland's opportunism. As the ball hit the deck it ballooned up over the head of the increasingly hapless Field. Which just left Leyland, scooping up and scuttling away to score again in front of a traumatised travelling support.
If the atmosphere was frenzied after his first try it went up another notch after his second. The mix of joy and - frankly - disbelief was palpable. It's incredibly difficult to think of a moment quite like it in the stadium's 14-year history. It was one for the ages, brought to us in large part by a bloke who plays for a direct rival. It was classic, unscripted Saintsiness. The identity of the opposition was just the juiciest of cherries on top of the big, fat cake.
The loss was the second in a row for Wigan. Previously unbeaten through the first five rounds of Super League they were humbled at home by bottom club Huddersfield last week. This was a second successive humiliation for That Nice Matty Peet. It's not often that he has been questioned in a successful coaching tenure so far but if his side go out of the Challenge Cup at Wakefield next week the noise will be dialled up. The Evil Empire does not tolerate failure for very long.
As for Saints, Leyland is ineligible for the cup quarter-final visit from Catalans Dragons on Friday night (October 10). He played in the competition for Rovers against Lock Lane. But Rowley will welcome Kyle Feldt back from suspension and will hope that maybe Percival and Delaney at least will be back on board. A result like this, achieved in this manner is a real momentum shifter after the nightmare of Hull KR. And a home draw against a team Rowley's men have already beaten convincingly this season represents a real opportunity to head back to Wembley for the first time in five years.
And it could happen. Never Write Off The Saints.
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