The Super League table rarely lies and it certainly doesn’t usually have too many glaring abnormalities at the halfway point in a regular season. But a quick glance tells a slight mistruth; Wigan Warriors are not top, but they are quite clearly the best side in the competition.
There is a four-point gap between Wigan and the two teams joint-top of the table, Leeds Rhinos and Warrington Wolves. But you would surely not find too many arguments against Wigan being some way ahead of that pairing after the Challenge Cup winners delivered yet another masterclass against one of their playoff rivals.
Wakefield Trinity have made huge strides since returning to Super League at the start of last season, so much so that the feeling here was if they backed up last week’s win over the reigning champions, Hull KR, then they, too, could be considered genuine title contenders.
This was perhaps the most brutal lesson of all as to how they still have a way to go. But it was more about the place Wigan find themselves in as they dismantled the home side with one of the performances of the year to secure a sixth win in seven games in all competitions.
That run includes the Challenge Cup final win over Hull KR and the one blot in that run was the week before Wembley, when they lost after resting almost their entire first-team squad against Rovers. Here, they scored nine tries of the highest quality with the young winger Noah Hodkinson scoring four of them to suggest he could be the next Wigan breakout star.
It was finely poised as the half-hour mark approached, with the teams level at 6-6. But three Wigan tries in eight minutes before the break swung the momentum firmly the way of the visitors and by the time Wakefield crossed again through Tom Johnstone, the contest had been emphatically decided.
“I’m proud of the performance,” Matt Peet said. “The result is an important one for us. Wakefield have got a formidable pack and some formidable players. I thought we dealt with that and our backs could showcase what they could do. We don’t get too carried away, but we got the chance to play some good stuff.”
That is an understatement. Hodkinson’s four tries stole the headlines but Junior Nsemba, Jake Wardle and Harry Smith showed their class. They were in a battle in the early exchanges, with Liam Farrell’s 150th Wigan try cancelled out by Matty Storton’s effort for Wakefield.
When Wigan clicked their performance up a gear as half-time approached, Wakefield had no answer. With Nsemba running riot on the left, Hodkinson scored his first two tries either side of a clever finish from Oli Partington.
That made it 20-6 in the blink of an eye and unfortunately for Wakefield it would only get worse from there. “Wigan were awesome from start to finish,” said their coach, Daryl Powell. “It was too slow from us, a really poor performance. We got beat in every facet of the game and we’ll have to put it behind us and move on.”
Trinity had to score first after half-time to stand a chance. Instead, Hodkinson’s hat-trick try put real daylight between the teams before Wardle capped his own excellent display with a try. Hodkinson’s fourth, a stunning individual finish, removed all doubt from proceedings before Bevan French sent Zach Eckersley over.
This may have felt like a disappointing evening for Wakefield, but their progression to this point is worth including for context. But this showed how they are still to make the decisive final step, with Farrell’s second in the final moments after another wonderful French assist showing all of the Warriors’ class.
The bigger challenges are still to come. But it is hard to imagine anyone being able to cope with Wigan in this form.
