Wigan Warriors: The 18th Man - ‘Inspiring Brad O'Neill a future leader of the club’

David Bailey:

The dust has settled and the small task of adding that fifth gold star has been completed. Wigan Warriors - World Champions, sounds just perfect doesn't it? I am not going to bang on about the perceived controversy surrounding the game itself, it's been done to death. What I will do is pay huge respect, once more to the players, the coaching staff, the owners, the leadership group and every single person that contributes to this famous club, day in, day out.

Saturday is a night that will live long in the memory. Everything about it showed just how much this competition means to the town and the club. I have never heard such a roar to greet the players as they emerged from the tunnels and Penrith, with the exception of Nathan Cleary, looked rattled.

Penrith were outstanding in many aspects, I have never seen a team dominate the Warriors and roll down the pitch with such ease. Harry Smith got a bit of stick for his kicking. But to be honest most of his kicks came from his own 40, to get distance he had to give it some height, and the Panthers back three had plenty of time to adjust.

His most famous kick was sadly chalked out of the history books as Bevan, just, just put a foot wrong. Again, the noise when everyone could see the ball bounce up for French was immense.

So many players gave everything and we just had enough to pull through. 1 to 17 were all outstanding, especially in defence. Matt Peet was gracious in victory, as was Ivan Cleary in defeat and the Panthers deserve huge credit for their contribution.

It's a night that will live long in the memory for Warriors fans, but this week we go again, welcoming a patchy Huddersfield Giants who will no doubt be looking for any sign of fatigue for the Warriors. Whilst Leeming is out, we will get the chance to see Tom Forber, the next cab off the rank. Mike Cooper’s sad injury also is tempered by Luke Thompson's return but here's hoping Coops injury isn't a bad one. We can talk about the ticketing fiasco another day, but credit to the ticket office staff who have worked so hard to fix things for people. Please remember they are humans doing a job and none of this scenario was of their making.

Glynn Bradshaw:

First of all, I would like to congratulate the club on the excellent pre-match entertainment.

I thought Heather Small was very good and Russell Watson’s rendition of Jerusalem set the tone nicely, and built up the atmosphere.

The game was a marvellous advert for rugby league; two quality sides going toe-to-toe, and I couldn’t be any prouder of the way the Warriors handled all that was thrown at them. It was a game that I’ll look back on and be so glad that I was there.

Ellis was my man of the match, I thought he stood up manfully to the Panthers pack and never took a backward step, but there were heroes aplenty in the Warriors side, with everyone playing their part. The only negative were the injuries to Cooper and Leeming, but Leeming was clearly not fit as he was running with a limp in the warm-up.

Field showed that he is much more than just a speedster. We are so lucky to watch players like him and French at the peak of their careers.

Also a massive shout out for Matt Peet. It is clear for all to see how much the players love playing for him. The atmosphere was electric and a night I’ll not forget in a hurry.

Credit to the Panthers, their pack were very good, in particular Yeo, and Dylan Edwards was very impressive at full-back, however I thought we had the beating of them in the outside-backs, and that’s where we created our tries.

A full house for Peet of all trophies in just 66 games is testament to how well he has done and a fantastic achievement.

It feels so good to be a Warriors fan at the moment, and the relationship between the players and the Wigan fans has never been better, all part of the outstanding culture Matty has nurtured, long may it continue.

Stephen Ford:

Well, I’ve got to hold my hands up. I didn't think we could beat Penrith if we got into an arm wrestle which was what I expected. If you had told me that we would have less than 40% of the ball and played the majority of the game in our own half I would have laughed at the thought of a Wigan victory. Not only was our defence outstanding, all the quality attacking moments in the game came from us. It was a brilliant and deserved victory.

It’s difficult to pick out players for special mention however, I thought Ellis and O’Neil were superb for their effort particularly as they both had to complete extra minutes due to injuries. Liam Marshall just seems to get better and better. Considering the rollercoaster ride of life he has endured these past few weeks, his personal performance was incredibly good.

Both of our first half tries were worked and executed to perfection. We had possibly two or three chances and we scored two cracking first half tries. At half time I was quite relaxed because I thought that we couldn’t have less possession in the second half.

The Wardle try has caused lots of controversy but after watching it again in the cold light of day I think it was a 50/50 call and we probably got the rub of green. I wasn’t overly convinced of Penrith's second try in the first half by Edwards but that seems to be totally overlooked by most people. The only blot on the actual game was the disallowed try by French. What an absolute peach of a “try”.

Penrith would never try such a play on the first tackle. I was and still am proud that we had the confidence and the ability to go for such an extravagant play.

I think, like a lot of Wigan fans, that Field was always going to make “that” tackle. His defence is really underestimated and as soon as he gave their player the outside I was very confident that he would make the tackle. What I didn’t expect was that he would also take their player into touch. An absolutely brilliant piece of full-back play.

I heard some facts after the game that Penrith had previously won 72 out 73 games where they were leading at half time but had to succumb to Wigan.

The Australian podcaster also couldn’t remember when Penrith had failed to score in a second half. Those two pieces of information just put into context what a great win it was on Saturday night.

The Penrith team and management were extremely gracious in defeat and I admired how humble they were despite losing under some controversy. I thought Yeo for Penrith was outstanding. I’d love to see him in the Cherry & White at some point in the future. Cleary taking selfies and signing autographs long after the game had finished was also outstanding.

What a game. What a day. Another piece of history made.

Darren Wrudd:

Last week's game had felt like a huge occasion that had been building since late last year and certainly lived up to the hype. The two best club sides in the world going at it for eighty lung-bursting minutes with only one winner possible. A bit of fire in the blood and the odd flare up showed just how seriously the Aussies were taking this, with last year's loss in their own backyard still smarting on their scoresheet.

It had everything, silky skills were on show from both sides and when we took first blood I began to think we could really do this, up to then I had hardly dared to dream. A see-saw game on the scoresheet saw us trapped in our half for large parts, but when we created chances we made them stick.

Controversy is always going to shadow a game like this with such a close margin and on the night I thought we were lucky to have the Wardle try allowed. But on reflection and watching the TV replay, the referee was in a great position to send it up a try and I think the correct result followed.

Australian sides, be it national or club, have a real tendency to fire everything at you in the last ten minutes and the Panthers were no different. We could all see that final move coming, but the brutal commitment to defence which held up that ball was worth the entrance money alone.

Abbas Miski and Jai Field were both simply awesome, stand-out performances from so many of the players to get that result but surely Harry Smith deserves the accolade of my man of the match.

Not only did Smith perform to his usual high standards in guiding and creating for our attack, but the Antipodeans had obviously singled him out for special treatment, sending wave after wave of attack down his side. But he stood tall in defence and hit as hard as a Tommy Leuluai shoulder. Another special mention must go to Brad O’Neill, with a team topping tally of 48 tackles even with a spell on the sidelines, his effort levels were inspiring and I see a future leader right there.

The result stands as testimony to the hard work on and off the field and Matt Peet should be proud indeed over what has been achieved, as we all should.

A final word though regarding the way that the visiting side held themselves both before and after the game. Joining in with our fans meet and greets beforehand was a great gesture, but after such disappointment, to see Nathan Cleary, arguably rated as the best player in the world, spend over an hour with Wigan fans taking selfies and signing shirts was simply wonderful and indicative of the respect he shows to the fans and the game as a whole. His father/coach was also magnanimous in the post-match interviews, giving all credit to Wigan and committing to the competition going forward. Both great ambassadors for the sport as a whole.

It seems a real come down in emotion to get back to league games now, but for sure that is what Huddersfield will be hoping for. If we can kick on now to a great season it could set the standards for years to come. Let's hope so.