7 Wigan Warriors academy graduates who thrived elsewhere including St Helens legends

Umyla Hanley, Sean Long and James McDonnell all left Wigan for regular rugby elsewhere.
It’s never an easy decision to leave a big club to try and further your career: especially when that club is one as significant and historic as Wigan Warriors.
The reigning Super League League champions have a long line of world-class talent that has come through their academy: and that continues to this day, with stars including Harry Smith and Brad O’Neill at the heart of their recent success.
But throughout the Super League era, some players have made the decision to go on and leave in pursuit of regular first-team rugby, or for opportunities elsewhere. And it has paid off.
Here are some of those players.
Matty Russell
Russell is back in Super League in 2025 with Wakefield Trinity, and he has a long career at the highest level after leaving the Warriors as a youngster.
Having made just a couple of appearances for Wigan, he left to join Gold Coast and while that didn’t work out as planned, time with the likes of Warrington certainly did, with Russell appearing in multiple major finals.
Sean Long
The most notorious example of them all!
Long left Wigan in 1997 looking for regular rugby and eventually joined Widnes. While that didn’t go to plan, his next move did: as he signed for the Warriors’ bitter rivals, St Helens.
He would go on to become one of the greatest half-backs the modern era has ever seen, winning every domestic trophy on offer and representing his country at the highest level on plenty of occasions.
Long’s story is definitely one of a player leaving Wigan and going on to achieve remarkable things, something a few of the next inclusions on this list will hope to replicate..
James McDonnell
The 25-year-old took the bold decision to leave Wigan after struggling to command a regular place in the Warriors’ first-team picture.
Loan spells at York and Leigh followed before a move to Leeds Rhinos helped rejuvenate his career. He’s now a firm regular at the Rhinos and one of the best back-rowers in the competition without question.
Amir Bourouh
Bourouh was another who didn’t look to have a clear pathway to the first-team squad at Wigan, leading him to attempt to restart his career elsewhere.
He found a home at Salford Red Devils, excelling to become their first-choice hooker last season and ultimately earning a bumper payday at Hull FC, where he will play in 2025.
Umyla Hanley
Hanley made just a handful of appearances at Wigan before leaving the Warriors, subsequently admitting in interviews that he and Matt Peet ‘didn’t see eye-to-eye’.
His switch to Leigh has definitely paid off, though. Hanley was a regular throughout the 2024 season and is now categorically considered a Super League-standard player. Hopes remain high he can go on to have a hugely successful career in the game.
Jon Clarke
Jumping all the way back to the start of the Super League era now: 1999, to be precise. That’s when Clarke left Wigan to join London as he looked for regular first-team rugby.
However, he would soon return north, and find a home with Warrington Wolves, where he would spend over a decade, making over 250 appearances for the club. He also earned international recognition with Great Britain in 2007, winning three Test caps.
Tom Davies
Davies certainly enjoyed his fair share of rugby at Wigan: and he was a first-team player. But he took a chance by leaving the club to join Catalans Dragons, and his stock has only risen since then.
Davies established himself as one of the best English wingers in Super League, with his form in France earning him a big move back to England for 2025 with Hull KR.
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