Nine-try Wigan Hammer Leigh To Maintain Strong Start

26 February 2026


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Wigan (24) 54


Tries: Keighran, French, Field 2, Smith 2, Eckersley, Nsemba, Forber Goals: Keighran 9


Leigh (0) 0


Wigan Warriors ran in nine tries to hammer local competitors Leigh Leopards 54-0 and continue their remarkable start to the 2026 Super League season.


Tries from Adam Keighran, Bevan French, Jai Field and Harry Smith put Wigan into a dominant 24-point lead at half-time for the second match in a row.


Further tries from Field and Smith plus one each from Zach Eckersley, Junior Nsemba and Tom Forber after the break - along with nine objectives from Keighran on an ideal night with the boot - made sure a 3rd league win from 3 for Warriors.


Leigh stopped working to appear during a really one-sided 'Battle of the Borough' on a disappointing night for the visitors cluttered with managing mistakes and a lack of discipline.


Wigan went ahead after 10 minutes - French fired in a brief pass for Keighran to cross over from close quarters on the last deal with after Leigh's Lachlan Lam conceded a set of 6 in his own half for a late shot.


Liam Marshall dotted down for Warriors right after however the celebrations were interrupted as referee Liam Moore found a forward pass from French in the accumulation of a streaming group relocation.


French then discovered a small gap in the Leigh backline on the ideal edge to roll challenges from Lam and Tesi Niu to grab Wigan's 2nd in a dominant opening 20 minutes from the hosts.


A well-measured kick from Smith was batted back one-handed by Nsemba to full-back Field who showed a dummy before darting over for the impressive Warriors' third try.


Field turned from scorer to provider moments later, discovering room in midfield before establishing Smith to dot down beneath the sticks and, after Keighran dispatched a fourth successful kick, the video game was effectively over as a contest by the half-hour mark.


Moments into the second duration, Leigh's Matt Davis was forced off with a head injury having taken the full blast of a kick to the corner by Smith.


And Warriors extended their legs not long after when a beautiful line break from Patrick Mago enabled the prop to pass to Smith, who unselfishly found Field to complete another free-flowing relocation for his second of the night.


At this phase, Wigan were playing exhibit rugby league and a miss-out pass from French eliminated 3 Leigh protectors and found Eckersley who strolled in for Wigan's 6th shot.


Nsemba then got his name on the scoresheet, getting on completion of a delicate grubber kick from Smith, before Field raced away on a wonderful break and found the supporting Smith to dive over next to the sticks.


got 50-up for Warriors, barging over for his side's ninth try in between the sticks before Keighran added the additionals again to seal a perfect night for Wigan.


Leigh were dealt a more blow with simply a minute remaining as full-back Bailey Hodgson needed to be assisted off the field with a serious looking knee injury.


'Important not to get brought away' - Peet


Wigan head coach Matt Peet informed BBC Radio Manchester:


"It's difficult to know what level the other teams are at. Hull were missing out on a couple of [players] last week, Leigh were missing out on a few [gamers], so it's essential we don't get brought away at this stage of the season.


"The boys have actually got themselves in exceptional physical shape, credit to our efficiency personnel - we were all set for this season physically.


"We have actually got ability - the video game has quickened up a bit so we can reveal it."


'As bad as we've played in my time here' - Lam


"Obviously terrible. That is most likely as bad as we've played in my time here and I believe we were our own worst opponents.


"We distributed a take on six charge when ball game was 0-0 and that certainly turned the video game completely on its head.


"You've got to come here and win possession and refrain from doing those things [mistakes] so it put us under pressure and it simply escalated from there.


"You just can't give away those basic mistakes and charges early on. We got beaten up a little bit - no doubt about it."


Wigan: Field; Eckersley, Keighran, Farrell, Marshall; French, Smith; Havard, O'Neill, Thompson, Nsemba, Walters, Ellis.


Replacements: Mago, Partington, Eseh, Forber.


Leigh: Hodgson; Senior, Niu, Brand, Charnley; Cook, Lam; Ofahengaue, Horne, Mulhern, Halton, Trout, Liu.


Replacements: Hughes, Davis, Alick-Wiencke, O'Brien.