Magic Moments

Ahead of Magic Weekend at elland road this week, we have taken a look back at Wigan’s journey in magic weekend’s over the years.

The first ever Magic Weekend was back in 2007 as Rugby League was taken on the road in a bumper weekend at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. The Welsh capital though wasn’t an enjoyable place for Wigan as we fell to consecutive defeats to St Helens.

A change of scenery in 2009 saw the weekend head North to Murrayfield in Edinburgh. Again the Warriors were paired up with St Helens but it was a much more favourable result as we came away with a 38-18 win, before beating Huddersfield at the same venue a year later.

PICTURE BY Ben Duffy/SWPIX.COM. Magic Weekend 2009, Murrayfield stadium, Edinburgh, Scotland 02/05/09.Wigan’s Michael Mcilorum is caught by St Helen’s Matty Ashurst.

Back at Cardiff in 2011, and the Welsh turf still wouldn’t let up as we got one of only two draws in our Magic Weekend history, with a 16-16 battle against Saints.

From 2012-2014 the weekend was more local, held at Etihad Stadium in Manchester and a ground which was a good omen for the Cherry & Whites, beating St Helens and Leeds twice at the North West venue.

Matt Peet described the Leeds victory in 2014 as one of his stand out Magic Weekend victories: “They battled all the way through it. Micky (McIlorum) was on top, we had a lot of young players in that game at the time, the likes of Ryan Sutton, George Williams and Joe Burgess were playing who had come through the pathway, so I remember being particularly proud of that win along with Shaun Wane and his staff.”

Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com – 17/05/2014 – Rugby League – First Utility Super League – 2014 Magic Weekend – Wigan Warriors v Leeds Rhinos – Etihad Stadium, Manchester – Wigan players show their appreciation to their fans.

Next up, it was Newcastle’s turn as they hosted for four years on the bounce. In 2015 we beat the Rhinos 27-12, before backing it up with a 40-8 thrashing of the Leeds side in 2016.

Fast forward to 2017 and we played out a thriller against the Warrington Wolves, ending 24-24 in the end including a hat-trick from Liam Marshall before going on to beat the same opponents at St James’ Park in 2018.

The Warriors were defeated against Warrington at Anfield, Liverpool before the weekend returned to St James’ Park Newcastle. Wigan fell to consecutive defeats in the North East with a loss against Warrington in 2021 before defeat at the hands of St Helens at the 2022 Magic Weekend. Facing Catalans Dragons in 2023, Wigan also lost 22-46 to the French Outfit at Newcastle.

3rd June 2023 Wigan Warriors v Catalans Dragons Magic Weekend. Photo Credit – Bernard Platt.

This time around Magic Weekend heads to a new venue, it’s sixth venue since launching in 2007 as this year the fans head to Leeds’ Elland Road for the 17th annual event. The Warriors face off against local rivals St Helens at 5pm on Saturday 17th August and tickets remain on sale HERE, read full ticket and travel information HERE.

Over the years:

2007 – St Helens 34-18 Wigan Warriors (Cardiff, Millenium)
2008 – St Helens 57-16 Wigan Warriors (Cardiff, Millenium)
2009 – Wigan Warriors 38-18 St Helens (Edinburgh, Murrayfield)
2010 – Wigan Warriors 28-10 Huddersfield Giants (Edinburgh, Murrayfield)
2011 – St Helens 16-16 Wigan Warriors (Cardiff, Millenium)
2012 – St Helens 16-42 Wigan Warriors (Manchester, Etihad)
2013 – Leeds Rhinos 16-20 Wigan Warriors (Manchester, Etihad)
2014 – Wigan Warriors 18-14 Leeds Rhinos (Manchester, Etihad)
2015 – Leeds Rhinos 12-27 Wigan Warriors (Newcastle, St James’ Park)
2016 – Leeds Rhinos 8-40 Wigan Warriors (Newcastle, St James’ Park)
2017 – Wigan Warriors 24-24 Warrington Wolves (Newcastle, St James’ Park)
2018 – Wigan Warriors 38-10 Warrington Wolves (Newcastle, St James’ Park)
2019 – Wigan Warriors 14-26 Warrington Wolves (Liverpool, Anfield)
2021 – Wigan Warriors 6-10 Warrington Wolves (Newcastle, St James’ Park)
2022 – St Helens 20-18 Wigan Warriors (Newcastle, St James’ Park)
2023 – Wigan Warriors 22-46 Catalans Dragons (Newcastle, St James’ Park)

Fancy refreshing your memory? You can see a range of our Magic Weekend performances with full match replays on Wigan TV. Click HERE to watch our Magic Weekend Archive.