5 takeaways as Warrington beat Wigan: Serious contenders, England in safe hands…

Warrington Wolves’ flying start to 2026 continued with a 23-6 victory on home soil against Wigan on Friday night, with the Warriors now having lost four Super League games in a row!

Following a pulsating encounter between two old foes, live from the press box at the Halliwell Jones Stadium, our five key takeaways…

Wire are serious contenders

This may seem an obvious statement, but it’s one we feel we should make. The old adage of it ‘always being their year’ might be put to bed for once and for all!

We’re evidently still a long way from that happening, but Sam Burgess’ side appear one with all the ingredients needed for success. This was the exact type of game they’d have failed to win in previous years.

It’s six wins from their first eight Super League games of the year now, and they’ve a Challenge Cup semi-final to look forward to as well.

Wigan are NOT in crisis mode

It might seem like they are because Wigan don’t lose four Super League games in a row, it just doesn’t happen.

But the reality is they have, and there are plenty of extenuating circumstances around why it’s happened – injuries and suspensions two of the leading factors.

They aren’t excuses, but they are reasons. Another big re-shuffle was needed early on tonight after Liam Marshall’s early withdrawal, which we’ll get onto.

This was an improvement on the performance we saw against Castleford last week in the most part, but the Warriors’ squad depth is being tested at the moment. There’s no doubt about that.

Sam Burgess ends Wigan hoodoo

Before tonight, Wolves boss Burgess had taken charge of six games against Wigan and won just one, losing all three head-to-heads with Matt Peet’s men last year.

Notably, this was Burgess’ first win against the Cherry and Whites here at the HJ, where Warrington had lost four on the spin against Wigan prior to tonight.

For Burgess and for the Wire fans, this victory is a sweet one, downing their old foes. Of course, the pair could yet meet at Wembley next month in the Challenge Cup final, just as they did in 2024.

England stars aplenty: both present and future

If new England boss Brian McDermott was watching from afar, he’d have liked what he saw from the majority of those vying for a spot in his World Cup squad.

Wire’s Matty Ashton, Danny Walker and Ben Currie will all hope to be on the plane alongside Wigan’s Jake Wardle, Ethan Havard, Brad O’Neill, Luke Thompson and Junior Nsemba.

On top of that, we saw some stars of the future, with Cai Taylor-Wray, Ewan Irwin, Zach Eckersley, Jack Farrimond and Taylor Kerr all featuring. Perhaps not all of those will end up breaking through on the international scene, but you’d wager a handful will eventually!

Injury woes

We’ve already mentioned Wigan losing Marshall early on. The winger pulled up following a collision and immediately signalled to the bench that his evening was over with what appeared to be a hamstring problem.

Wire full-back Cai Taylor-Wray then left the action just three minutes after the break having tried and failed to battle on with a lower limb injury suffered midway through the first half.

And on top of that, Wire skipper George Williams has had to have surgery on the neck issue which kept him out of this game, so it looks like he’ll be out for an extended period.