Warriors Wheelchair win Grand Final
- Match Report as Wigan Warriors Wheelchair win Betfred Wheelchair Super League Grand Final.
- Declan Roberts scored 22 of Wigan’s 50 points in an inspired Captain’s performance.
- FT | Leeds Rhinos 42-50 Wigan Warriors.
The Warriors Wheelchair Super League side made it a double Grand Final winning weekend, following on from the Men’s First Team success on Saturday night.
Wigan came into the game as underdogs against a Rhinos side who had won the League Leaders’ Shield and were aiming to make amends for a Grand Final defeat against Halifax Panthers at the same venue in 2022.
Captain Declan Roberts was in fine form for the Warriors and set an inspirational lead as the Warriors led for the vast majority of the match – and then came home the stronger when the Rhinos threatened to snatch victory in an end-to-end second half.
Wigan had built up a 28-16 lead going into the interval as Jack Heggie opened the scoring before Martin Lane went in at the corner in the opening 20 minutes. Matt Wooloff scored off some inventive play from Wigan before Declan Roberts got a double before the break.
The pendulum then swung in the second half as Rigby crossed before Halliwell and Mulhall responded for Leeds. Jack Heggie maintained Wigan’s advantage but a triple threat of consecutive tries from the Rhinos meant Leeds took the lead for the first time in the contest in the 70th minute.
Declan Roberts ensured that Wigan were behind for less than four minutes as he laid on Jack Heggie’s third try of the match with a delicate kick, and then converted himself to re-establish a 44-42 lead.
Two minutes later, Heggie turned provider to lay on a second try for the Wales international Martin Lane, and Roberts landed his seventh goal to gain a match-winning eight-point cushion, confirming a first ever Betfred Wheelchair Super League Grand Final victory for the Warriors.
Gallery:
Leeds Rhinos: Nathan Collins, Nathan Mulhall, Ewan Clibbens, Tom Halliwell, Jodie Boyd-Ward.
Interchanges: Josh Butler, Paul Horrobin, Verity Smith
Tries: Boyd-Ward (3), Collins (4), Halliwell, Mulhall
Goals: Collins 2/7, Halliwell 1/2
Wigan Warriors: Martin Lane, Jack Heggie, Declan Roberts, Adam Rigby, Matt Wooloff.
Interchanges: Chris Greenhalgh, Nathan Roberts
Tries: Heggie (3), Lane (2), Wooloff, D.Roberts (2), Rigby
Goals: D. Roberts 7/9
