There have probably been worse nights to be a Wigan fan, in truth. Beating Warrington Wolves for the fifth successive game is impressive enough but on a night filled with headlines at the DW, there was plenty happening both on and off the field to bring smiles to the faces of Warriors fans on a thoroughly triumphant night for the club.
Chief amongst the stories heading into the game was how Ben Flower would cope on his first game back in rugby league following that infamous six-month suspension – but by half-time the Warriors had watered down that hype with a blockbuster story of their own.
If their tactic was to announce the re-signing of Sam Tomkins on a bumper four-year deal to take the attention off Flower’s return to the sport, it definitely worked. Incidentally, Flower produced a solid enough performance on his return, playing for more than half an hour and showing the kind of performance that led to him becoming one of Super League’s best forwards before he was the first man to see red in a Grand Final – after punching the St Helens half-back Lance Hohaia.
While Tomkins may be back at Wigan next season, courtesy of the £200,000 deal that was finally confirmed on Thursday night, the Warriors certainly showed they can cope without the services of the England international, for now at least. In a real twist of irony, Tomkins said after the game that he had been mulling over an offer from another Super League club before plumping for Wigan – none other than Thursday night’s opponents, Warrington.
A topsy-turvy encounter between two of the titans of Super League resulted in the lead changing hands six times but given everything else that was going on, such as one man’s return and the announcement that another was rejoining his first club, you always suspected it might have been Wigan’s night – and so it proved. “It was one of those games off a short turnaround that it was win at all costs, and thankfully we did,” said the Wigan coach, Shaun Wane. “I thought Ben played really well; he ran really hard and he was good out there. He looked a bit nervous before the game and I was apprehensive for him but it worked out great.
“It’s a good night all-round for the club, with everything that’s happened. Getting one of our own back in Sam is huge because he’s very much one of our own.”
When you strip back all of the stories outside of the field of play, this was another truly incredible night of Super League action. All 34 players played their part in a feisty, tempestuous derby that had it all, a point not lost on the Warrington coach, Tony Smith, after the game.
“It was a fantastic game, we produce some of the best games in the comp between us but we keep coming up on the wrong side,” he said. “There was some special rugby league played out there. There was some unreal tries scored and sometimes you’ve got to think that if they’re going to go to that length to score tries, it’s pretty hard to stop them.”
Although Warrington would ultimately lose out by 10 points, it was they who raced into a 10-point lead of their own early on, as they aimed to take advantage of all the furore and buzz swirling round as the game kicked off. They were good value for the lead, too, as their captain, Joel Monaghan, and then the centre Chris Bridge raced over in the corner to give the Wolves an early stranglehold on the contest.
Wigan hit back well, though, and after a wonderful break from George Williams laid the platform for Liam Farrell to cross, an equally fine break from Joe Burgess had the Warrington defence in tatters, with Ryan Hampshire in support to run home and put the home side in front.
The moment everyone had waited for arrived soon afterwards as the Wales international Flower appeared in the 23rd minute to end his six-month exile from the sport, being greeted by huge cheers from the Wigan fans in the process. His first drive brought equally loud applause, with four Warrington defenders required to haul the big man down.
Despite the emotion created by Flower’s return, however, Warrington struck back to retake the lead as Bridge charged over for his second of the evening. Wigan again responded quickly and they led at the interval courtesy of Dom Manfredi’s first of a personal hat-trick.
The tries – and the changes of the lead – kept coming, though, and after Ben Currie crossed shortly after the restart, Wigan grabbed a grip on the game to eventually close out the win.
After the impressive Anthony Gelling crossed to ensure the lead swapped hands for a sixth and final time, he created two wonderful tries for Manfredi, who completed his hat-trick with two well-executed finishes in the corner . This was Wigan’s night.
Wigan Hampshire; Manfredi, Gelling, Sarginson, Burgess; Williams, Smith; Mossop, McIlorum, Crosby, J Tomkins, Farrell, Bateman. Interchange Flower, Clubb, Tautai, L Tomkins.
Tries Farrell, Hampshire, Manfredi 3, Gelling. Goals Smith 3.
Warrington Ratchford; Monaghan, Bridge, King, Ormsby; Patton, Myler; Hill, Higham, Asotasi, Currie, Westwood, Harrison.
Interchange Clark, Sims, England, Laithwaite.
Tries Monaghan, Bridge 2 Currie. Goals Ratchford 2.
Referee R Silverwood.
