2022 Season Review

Wigan Warriors under new Head Coach, Matt Peet, had a successful season winning the Challenge Cup for the 20th time, beating Huddersfield Giants at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in May. In addition, the team were just one win away from a Grand Final appearance when they lost to Leeds Rhinos.

The season started off with four straight wins away to Hull KR and Toulouse along with home wins against Leeds Rhinos and Huddersfield. Jai Field was back to his best with six tries in the opening four games including two at Toulouse where the Warriors edged it 29-28 with a fantastic late drop goal from Harry Smith sealing the win.

The fixture list threw up back-to-back away games in France with the Warriors staying over after the win against Toulouse but lost 0-28 to Catalans in a game that saw Liam Farrell play his 300th game and Kaide Ellis being sent off near the end which resulted in a five-game ban.

Matt Peet’s squad then regrouped and beat Castleford Tigers 32-22 five days later with Liam Farrell scoring a brace of tries, before beating Salford 20-0 in the Challenge Cup at the DW Stadium. Hull FC put up a fighting display the following weekend when Wigan won 19-18 with Jai Field scoring two more tries to take his tally to nine in the first eight games. In the win over Hull FC, Bevan French made his first appearance of the season.

Picture by Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com – 31/03/2022 – Rugby League – Betfred Super League: Round 7 – Wigan Warriors vs Hull FC – DW Stadium, Wigan, England – Wigan’s Bevan French.

Ahead of the Challenge Cup Quarter Final at Wakefield Trinity, Jai Field signed a new two-year deal and celebrated in style with a hat-trick of tries in the televised 36-6 victory which set up a Semi Final against arch-rivals St Helens.

In the traditional Easter fixture against Saints, Wigan lost Tommy Leuluai with what turned out to be a long-term knee injury. Wigan lost the game 4-22 with their only points coming from a Jai Field try. Sam Powell also received a six-match ban for a dangerous tackle in the game. Three days later on Easter Monday and Wigan were back to winning ways with a convincing 54-10 victory over Wakefield Trinity – Bevan French grabbed two tries in what was to be the start of him building an incredible tally of 31 tries in 24 games.

Salford were beaten 30-24 in a game that ebbed and flowed and was decided by an incredible Jai Field try in the last minute as the Warriors featured live on Channel 4. Next up were Warrington Wolves at the Halliwell Jones Stadium and Wigan won 40-22 with Iain Thornley and Liam Marshall scoring two tries apiece. Three weeks after the defeat to St Helens, the two clubs met up again in the Challenge Cup Semi Final at Elland Road, Leeds. Liam Marshall scored a brilliant second-half interception try to seal the victory and was building up his tally of tries as one of the best finishers in the game.

Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com – 07/05/2022 – Rugby League – Betfred Challenge Cup Semi Final – Wigan Warriors v St Helens – Elland Road, Leeds, England – Wigan’s Liam Marshall scores a try against St Helens.

Matt Peet rested several players in the following game at Huddersfield as the Giants won 32-22. Many of the youngsters were making their debuts including 18-year-old Matty Nicholson who scored two tries along with Sam Halsall who also scored two tries and will be playing for the Giants in 2023. The week before the Challenge Cup Final Wigan went down 22-31 to Hull FC in an end-to-end thriller.

The last weekend in May was the Challenge Cup Final where Wigan met Huddersfield for the second time in 16 days. The final, watched by a crowd of 51,628, was an entertaining game and Wigan secured their 20th victory in the competition with a last-gasp try from talisman winger Liam Marshall to make it 16-14. Harry Smith also scored a try and kicked two goals with Jai Field adding another try to his growing collection (18 at this point).

28th May 2022 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Wigan Warriors take on Huddersfield Giants in the final of the 125th year of Rugby League’s most historic competition, the Betfred Challenge Cup. Photo by: Bernard Platt.

After the victory at Tottenham Hotspurs ground, Club legend Sean O’Loughlin learned that he had been awarded an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list.

The game at Castleford Tigers showed the true potential of the Wigan side, losing 0-12 at one point the Warriors stormed back and won the game 32-12 with Liam Marshall scoring two tries, with one each from Bevan French, Abbas Miski, Jake Bibby and Liam Farrell.

Matt Peet captured the signature of Mike Cooper from Warrington and Mike joined his new teammates mid-July. A remarkable run started for Bevan at Castleford as he was to score 20 tries in 8 games. Ever improving Salford were beaten 30-12 at the AJ Bell Stadium and Toulouse, scrapping for Super League survival were despatched 40-6 a week later with Abbas Miski scoring four tries.

Sam Powell, Liam Marshall, Liam Byrne and Ethan Havard all signed new deals during June. The Toulouse game marked the opening of the new fan village at Robin Park Arena, adjacent to the stadium and fans welcomed the addition to their game day experience by attending in big numbers. Wakefield Trinity were beaten 46-22 before the team and fans made their way to the North East for the Magic Weekend game against St Helens. Wigan lost 20-18 with tries from Bevan French (2) and John Bateman and the Warriors played for the last 13 minutes with only 12 players on the pitch following the dismissal of Brad Singleton and John Bateman played through the pain barrier finishing the game with a broken rib.

Mid-July saw the tries in a game record broken by Bevan French who scored seven in the win over Hull FC in a 60-0 victory. The record was witnessed by a crowd of 11,134 and was more remarkable in that Bevan was replaced after 58 minutes! Mike Cooper made his Warriors debut in the 12-42 defeat at the ever-improving Leeds Rhinos and Wigan ended July with a 46-4 home win over Hull KR with both Bevan French and Liam Marshall scoring hat-tricks.

Picture by Ed Sykes/SWpix.com – 15/07/2022 – Rugby League – Betfred Super League Round 19 – Wigan Warriors v Hull FC – DW Stadium, Wigan, England – Wigan Warriors’ Bevan French celebrates with team mates after scoring their sixth try and his fifth of the game.

With the end of the season nearing, August started with a home game against Warrington Wolves and after trailing 4-6 at the interval, the Warriors scored 28 unanswered points in the second half to take the win and reclaim the Locker Cup and the following week, Assistant Coach Lee Briers announced he was leaving the club at the end of the season to join Brisbane Broncos.

After losing 12-30 at Wakefield Trinity, Wigan responded with a convincing 52-6 victory over Toulouse in a nine-try performance including another hat-trick for Bevan French and two for Cade Cust. Over 19,000 attended the game against St Helens at the DW Stadium where the Warriors ran out 30-10 winners. The cost of victory has high, however, as Liam Farrell left the field with a knee injury that would curtail his season and also his hopes of playing in the Rugby League World Cup.

With the quick turnaround, Matt Peet rotated his squad for the game at Hull KR and the players responded magnificently with a fantastic team performance, despite the 38-28 loss as seven players made their debuts in the game.

The win over Catalans in the final league game of the season saw the Warriors maintain their unbeaten home record for 2022. In the Play Off Semi Final game, however, Wigan lost to a rejuvenated Leeds Rhinos despite taking an early lead through Liam Marshall. Bevan French limped off with a foot injury in the first half and John Bateman was sent off and later suspended for a Grade D high tackle on Aidan Sezer. Although disappointed in losing, the Club will look back at a trophy-winning 2022 with pride. Wigan fans were given a boost after the season finished with the news that both Bevan French and Liam Marshall had signed new deals, pledging their future to the club

Thursday 05 January 2023