“It was a no-win situation,” said the Wigan coach, Shaun Wane, of the scenario his side were presented with during this convincing victory: and while he may well be correct, it will not be entirely until a week’s time whether both sides’ preparation for a peculiar evening pays off with a trip to Wembley in August.
For Wigan this was a much-needed victory to build some confidence and form before their Challenge Cup semi-final with Salford next weekend. A side close to Wane’s strongest possible line-up proved too good for Leeds and, in what has been a chastening season for the reigning Super League champions, there will at least be some satisfaction they won with such ease.
For Leeds the scenario was almost the complete opposite. Without 13 first-team players for the trip across the M62, a list further compounded by the loss of two more front-line players in the hours approaching kick-off, this was a Leeds side unlike the one which has impressed for long periods of this season.
Those injuries left Leeds fielding what turned out to be their third-youngest side in the Super League era: and that inexperience showed here. This was only their second “nilling” in the competition’s history, the first a 42-0 loss at Halifax back in 1998.
Danny McGuire, Kallum Watkins and Ryan Hall, for instence, were all absent, and the Leeds coach, Brian McDermott, was coy after the match on how many of the 15 missing could return for their own cup semi-final next week, against the holders Hull in Doncaster. “Let’s get through Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday first,” he said.
Leeds – fielding a side including the first Super League player born this century in Harry Newman – were physically outmuscled from start to finish. Three Wigan tries, from Michael McIlorum, Sam Tomkins and George Williams, opened up a commanding 14-0 lead at half-time from which Leeds never really looked capable of recovering.
“We put up a fair bit of resistance against a strong Wigan team and there’s some good bits to feel proud about,” McDermott said, and while he was right to praise his young side’s efforts, they were powerless to prevent Wigan running in more points after half-time. Oliver Gildart scored twice, before Tom Davies and Williams’ second moved the champions to within three points of the play-off places in convincing fashion.
Wigan Tomkins; Davies, Gelling, Gildart, Burgess; Williams, Leuluai; Nuuausala, McIlorum, Sutton, Isa, Bateman, O’Loughlin. Interchange Clubb, Powell, Tautai, Wells.
Tries McIlorum, Tomkins, Williams, Gildart (2), Davies, Burgess. Goals Williams (2), Powell.
Leeds Walker; Briscoe, Keinhorst, Sutcliffe, Newman; Golding, Lilley; Garbutt, Jones-Buchanan, Baldwinson, Ormondroyd, Ablett, Mullally. Interchange Oledzki, Jordan-Roberts, Smith, Whiteley.
Referee B Thaler. Attendance 15,119
