Wigan Warriors: The 18th Man - 'He will go down as one of the greats, for sure...'

Our panel of Warriors experts run the rule over Saturday’s big win over Leeds Rhinos, the news of Liam Farrell’s impending retirement and the chance to secure the League Leaders’ Shield in Friday’s home clash with Catalans Dragons...

David Bailey:

Saturday brought out the very best of Wigan. A crackling Headingley crowd, expectant of a first Shield in over 10 years, turned up, but sadly, their star players didn't.

I suppose that’s a bit harsh on Lachie Miller. The fullback, who is one of the frontrunners for the Man of Steel award, departed after an innocuous ball return, hopping into contact. The usually aggressive Ollie Partington hesitated and immediately waved to the referee. Once the Rhinos fullback departed the field, you just felt the positivity drain from the stadium. Well, the blue and amber side anyway.

In the build-up, many were bigging up the duel between Jake Connor and Harry Smith as the two lead the way for the England scrum-half berth. On the evidence of Saturday, it shouldn't even be a question.

That being said, a certain Warriors stand-off decided that he wanted the headlines. An absolutely scintillating performance garnered Bevan French a try and three assists, totally dismantling Leeds' left-side defence.

Without Jake Wardle, Zach Eckersley showed his versatility with a brilliant stint at centre... Surely he gets a spot in the England squad.

The Warriors now head home to the Brick Community Stadium on Friday with Catalans Dragons in the way of a second piece of silverware. It's quite remarkable after the shaky period earlier in the season that the Warriors are hot favourites for a second treble in three years.

With players fit, healthy and rested such as Junior Nsemba and Sam Walters, it really will take a monumental effort to derail the Warriors. I honestly think only injuries or suspensions can stop this Wigan team firmly in their groove.

A bumper crowd is expected as fans will hopefully be able to show their appreciation to outgoing skipper Farrell. Faz has been a mainstay for so long and will go down as another Wigan legend.

Thankfully, he is hanging around in a strength and conditioning capacity. I am sure he will be a great person to have around and a great mentor for some of the younger players who will see first-hand what it takes to get to the very top.

The men's first-team aren't the only ones who can gain some silverware this weekend. The reserves host Warrington Wolves on Saturday with the Reserves Grand Final at stake. They will be hoping to replicate the Academy side who produced a superb performance to finish their season unbeaten and as champions.

In fact, with the women also destroying Leeds at Headingley, there is an ever-growing chance that the Men's, Women’s, Reserves and Academy can perform a clean sweep of trophies and three of those sides are on course for an unbeaten season.

The club has certainly got the foundations in place for a healthy future, but this season has the makings of being an all-timer.

Please get down to as many of the remaining games as you can - it really makes a difference.

Glynn Bradshaw:

What a fantastic win on Saturday evening. We made a good start, restricted their yardage and got on the scoreboard early. We were always on the front foot in a dominant display from start to finish.

It was a joy to witness it amongst the throngs of the Warriors faithful - a great atmosphere in a packed away end, and I’ve not seen so many coaches at an away game, barring a Cup semi-final or final.

French was my Man of the Match. Once again, he was at the forefront of everything that is good about this Warriors outfit - an absolute joy to watch, and oozing class.

However, our forwards laid the platform, with all of them coming to the fore. In such an imperious performance, there wasn’t a bad display amongst them.

Youngster Austin Daniel showed maturity beyond his years with how he classily set Adam Keighran up for the first try. All our tries were good to watch and seemed even better on the highlights.

A massive step was taken towards securing the League Leaders’ Shield and the unbeaten run continued. Surely Catalans can’t spoil the party on Friday? They have struggled all season and I don’t feel they have the firepower to trouble us, without us getting complacent.

Congratulations to all involved with the Academy on their Grand Final victory - a tremendous achievement to remain unbeaten.

Next up is the Reserves Grand Final at the weekend against Warrington, and with Warriors Women putting Leeds to the sword on Saturday, we are excelling at all levels of the game, which is a testament to the coaching staff and the players involved.

Finally, it would be remiss of me not to comment on the big news this week that Farrell is to retire at the end of the season.

What a fantastic servant he has been - a true Warrior. I remember seeing him play for the Academy at Edge Hall Road and thinking what a good prospect he looked, but little did I know that he would end up having such a stellar career. I’m glad to see that he will remain at the club.

Thanks for the memories, Faz, you’ve commanded respect from all within the game for the way you have conducted yourself. We’ll never forget the last-minute try against Saints in the 2011 Good Friday derby - one for the highlights reel.

Fingers crossed for the Warriors this weekend!

Darren Wrudd:

Last week at Headingley, we taught the Rhinos a lesson.

Turn up without desire and you will get mauled. We dominated them in every part of the field and played what I would consider to be our best match of 2026 so far.

Of course, the social media channels are full of the conspiracy theories about bias, but the penalty count and six-again count were both against us, and yet we just did not let them play.

I thought it was an inspired choice by Matt Peet to put Eckersley inside Liam Marshall, leaving young Daniel with a specialist centre in Keighran on his inside. It meant that we had good structure on both edges and we flowed as a team for the full 80 minutes behind a seriously dominant pack.

It was fantastic to watch and a joy to behold. Daniel had a great game with such confidence in his own abilities and he did not look out of place.

The week has given me the chance to look at some of our club’s achievements this year and it makes for some rather impressive reading...

The Men and Women are Challenge Cup holders, we have unbeaten teams in the Academy, Reserves, PDRL and Women’s (with just two games to go). Grand Final winners for the PDRL and Academy, with the Reserves playing their Grand Final on Saturday, and the Women's and Men’s Grand Finals also coming up.

This does not happen by chance. It is on the back of years of building and nurturing the players from all of the squads, so our thanks goes to the backroom staff and coaches.

It is important not to forget the support staff behind the scenes as well, who are wrapped up in always striving to get better. I feel that we are so lucky to have a club like ours and I’m loving every minute of it.

The big news this week was that our captain Farrell has decided to hang up his boots at the end of the season, which I suppose had been half-expected.

It must be such a difficult decision not to try and go around again, but I am so pleased that he will stay on at the club as he has a lot to offer and will continue to add to any future successes that we achieve.

He has given so much commitment on and off the field in his career... He will go down as one of the greats, for sure.

Meanwhile, we have a Catalans team to beat on Friday to secure the League Leaders’ Shield. What an accomplishment it would be if we manage it.

Having had so many serious injuries to key players throughout the year, we have leaned heavily on our youth to keep the standards high, which they have done admirably.

The Dragons have nothing to lose. It is their last game of the year and they can play with a freedom of thought to go out and have fun.

As a result, this could make them a dangerous prospect and I expect to see offloads by the bucketload and a carefree attitude. We cannot be complacent or the hard work will count for little.

However, I expect the Wigan lads will be desperate to perform and regain the League Leaders’ Shield going into the Super League play-offs.