Historic Wembley image leaves Wigan Warriors chief beaming after Challenge Cup double success

Wigan Warriors chief executive Kris Radlinski believes the image of the club’s men’s and women’s teams celebrating together at Wembley will go down as one of the finest photographs in the club’s history.

It was a memorable day under the famous arch for the Warriors on Saturday as both senior teams lifted the Challenge Cup, while two Wigan schools also contested the opening fixture of the day.

St Peter’s Catholic High School beat The Deanery 38-0 in the Steven Mullaney Year 7 Champion Schools final before Denis Betts’ side retained the Women’s Challenge Cup with a commanding 54-6 victory over rivals St Helens.

Matt Peet’s men then completed a remarkable double by producing a ruthless display to beat Hull KR 40-10 and reclaim the Challenge Cup for a record-extending 22nd time.

Reflecting on a landmark occasion for both club and town, Radlinski admitted he was immensely proud of what Wigan had achieved.

“I’m just proud of everything,” Radlinski told Wigan Today. “It was a big day for the town and a big day for the club.

“Starting with the schools final, then Denis’ team have just brought something different to the club, they’ve given us a new dimension, so fun to watch and so fun to be around with their energy.

“We had a photo with the women and men, and that will go down in the club’s history as one of the best-ever photos.

“The lads turned up. I felt all week that, with the heat, the fittest team would win the game, so our performance team must take a lot of credit for conditioning the players the way they did.

“I was down on the field after the game, and there just wasn’t any air - it was humid and hot, so the conditioning team did their job – but it was just a pretty mad day for the club.”

While the women’s victory continued their dominance under Betts following last season’s historic quadruple, the men’s success marked a return to silverware after ending the 2025 campaign without a trophy.

Wigan’s 40-10 victory was one of the club’s most convincing Challenge Cup final performances, with young halfback Jack Farrimond inspiring the win with a Lance Todd Trophy-winning display.

Part of Wigan’s preparation involved a relaxed familiarisation visit to Wembley on Friday afternoon, with players enjoying themselves on the pitch by kicking footballs around and even playing a small game of cricket.

The atmosphere was notably calm despite the magnitude of the occasion, something Radlinski credits directly to head coach Peet.

“That’s solely on the head coach,” he said. “You’re a product of your environment and Matt Peet has created a place where people can work hard but have fun.

“The last message he gave to them in the changing rooms was ‘you need to be present today because these things don’t come around forever, so when you are partying tonight, make sure you party because that’s what you have worked so hard for’.

“And he’s right. The sacrifices that are made, sometimes you forget why they did it, so the lads will be messy today and then we will dust ourselves off and get ready for Paris because, ultimately, this is where our club wants to be - in different stadiums and different cities around the world, growing the brand and spreading the gospel of rugby league so we will continue to do that and have some fun along the way.”