Wigan Warriors verdict as Liam Marshall grabs hat-trick in comfortable Catalans Dragons win

The Warriors were 16-4 to the good at the break thanks to first half tries from Marshall (2) and Jai Field, whilst Arthur Romano crossed for the hosts.

Field got his second in the second half to extend Wigan’s lead before Zach Eckersley bagged a brace in the final quarter to wrap up a dominant 40-4 victory for the Warriors at the Stade Gilbert Brutus.

Wigan’s win in Perpignan sees them two points clear of third-placed Leeds Rhinos with three rounds of the regular campaign remaining.

Team news

Catalans coach Joel Tomkins made three changes to his side that beat Castleford Tigers last weekend, with Ugo Tison, Cesar Rouge and Tariq Sims replacing Luke Keary (calf), Theo Fages and Ollie Partington (calf). But the Dragons were forced into a late change in the warm-up as winger Fouad Yaha pulled up with an injury, and was replaced by Romano, who had initially been named as 18th man.

When the teams were initially announced, Wigan coach Matt Peet had only made one change to his side that beat Wakefield 44-2 last time out. Tyler Dupree replaced the suspended Ethan Havard, with Harvie Hill starting in the front-row alongside fellow academy product Liam Byrne, who was making his 150th appearance for the Warriors.

But Wigan were also forced into making a late change in the warm-up, as Adam Keighran was withdrawn, which saw Liam Farrell move into the centres, with Junior Nsemba coming into the starting team in the back-row, with young forward Kian McDermott coming onto the bench.

Match report

Wigan opened the scoring inside seven minutes as Nsemba produced a basketball-style pass to Marshall, who barged over out wide. Harry Smith’s conversion gave the visitors an early 6-0 lead.

Marshall got his second midway through the first half thanks to a sublime cut-out pass from Field after Wigan went down the short side from a scrum play. Smith’s conversion attempt hit the post and bounced out, but Wigan were 10-0 up.

Peet’s side extended their lead on the half-hour mark when Field burst onto a lovely offload from Eckersley to race 60 metres to score, with Smith’s conversion making the score 16-0.

The Warriors were then dealt an injury blow as powerhouse prop Patrick Mago was forced to leave the field for a head injury assessment, which he subsequently failed, meaning he will miss Friday’s derby against St Helens.

Catalans pulled one back late in the first half, though, as Romano got on the end of a bouncing high kick from Tison. Guillermo Aispuro-Bichet sliced his conversion attempt, and Wigan took a 16-4 lead into the half-time interval.

Bevan French produced a bit of brilliance shortly after the second half restart as he came up with a neat kick through off the side of his boot, with Field latching onto it to get his second. Smith added the extras.

Wigan prop Dupree was sent to the sin-bin in the 48th minute for a high tackle on Catalans fullback Aispuro-Bichet, and the Warriors were down to 12 men for 10 minutes.

The Dragons threw a lot at Wigan midway through the second half, but excellent defence from Peet’s side kept them at bay. The Warriors bundled Romano into touch just moments after Field made a try-saving tackle on Aispuro-Bichet.

Wigan extended their lead in the 65th minute when French put a tidy chip over the top for Eckersley to touch down, with Smith nailing the conversion from the touchline to make the score 28-4.

Eckersley got his second with five minutes remaining thanks to another assist from French following a superb carry from Hill earlier in the set, and Smith’s conversion was good.

The Warriors put the cherry on top of the cake in the final play of the game when Marshall completed his hat-trick. Smith again converted from out wide to wrap up a comfortable 40-4 victory for Wigan.

Catalans: Guillermo Aispuro-Bichet; Arthur Romano, Matthieu Laguerre, Reimis Smith, Nick Cotric; Ugo Tison, Cesar Rouge; Tariq Sims, Alrix Da Costa, Romain Navarrete, Bayley Sironen, Ben Garcia, Franck Maria. Subs: Chris Satae, Paul Seguier, Jordan Dezaria, Denive Balmforth. 18th man: Arthur Romano.

Tries: Romano Goals: Aispuro-Bichet 0/1

Wigan: Jai Field; Zack Eckersley, Liam Farrell, Jake Wardle, Liam Marshall; Bevan French, Harry Smith; Harvie Hill, Brad O’Neill, Liam Byrne, Sam Walters, Junior Nsemba, Kaide Ellis. Subs: Patrick Mago, Kruise Leeming, Tyler Dupree, Kian McDermott. 18th man: Jacob Douglas.

Tries: Marshall (3), Field (2), Eckersley (2) Goals: Smith 6/7

Referee: Tom Grant Attendance: 10,150