Wigan Warriors v Leeds Rhinos: Six conclusions as ‘curious case of Brodie Croft’ continues while ‘relentless’ hosts gain ‘precious momentum’

Wigan Warriors ended the regular season with a resounding 22-6 win over Leeds Rhinos at the Brick Community Stadium, giving them precious momentum heading into the play-offs.

Tries from Abbas Miski, Bevan French (2) and Jake Wardle steered them to yet another win, and despite a consolation score from Chris Hankinson at the end, secured a crucial win to end the season on a high.

Here is everything we learned from this round 27 clash.

Methodical Warriors

Wigan came under serious pressure in the early stages, both from their own slow start and Leeds’ attack, but they kept their cool and eventually powered to a strong win. The Warriors’ attack already sits top of the charts across Super League, but tonight was the perfect example of why it’s at the top, as they were incredibly methodical.

Aside from French’s second-half score, which came after some good fortune, Wigan just manipulated Leeds with relative ease as they got into the red zone and sliced them open.

Be it through some French and Jai Field wizardry or just power from the likes of Sam Walters, Junior Nsemba or Luke Thompson, Wigan consistently found holes in the Leeds defence and powered through with relentless hunger.

Leeds were tidy for large parts of the game, and will likely take a lot from this game too, considering the changes they made to their 17, but the story again tonight should be about how good Wigan were.

Momentum

Wigan endured a rocky ride partway through the season, but now come into the play-offs with some serious momentum. Five wins on the spin heading into the play-offs is exactly what they would have wanted, and even if they didn’t win the League Leaders Shield, they arguably come into the latter stages as favourites for Old Trafford given their form.

In this run, which includes wins against fellow top six sides Leeds, St Helens and Wakefield Trinity, they have scored 186 points while only conceding 22.

They’ve absolutely picked the right time to hit their full stride ahead of the play-offs.

How good is Bevan French

Yet again named Man of the Match, and it was certainly well deserved. He is head and shoulders the best player in Super League right now.

It’s a shame his injury has likely seen his chances to win a second Steve Prescott Man of Steel award in three seasons, but this was another sign of his genuine excellence.

His two tries were delicious, particularly the second one as he fended off at least two Leeds defenders in a congested channel to dot down. Around that, his work ball-in-hand played a key role in unpicking this Leeds defence and just finding spaces that only a player of his calibre could really spot.

Job done

Both teams will likely be feeling a sense of ‘job done’ tonight, given they came through it unscathed ahead of the play-offs.

There were a few scares in their, with Morgan Gannon going off early with a rib issue, while Brad O’Niel also left the field for an HIA after a nasty collision and Junior Nsemba took a heavy blow as well, but all three men overcame their issues come the full-time whistle.

Heading into the play-offs with a fully-fit squad will be a major boost for both sides.

Rohan Smith-ball

This was another eerily Rohan Smith-esque performance at times for Leeds ball-in-hand. They started very well tonight, and throughout the game created some nice chances, but then sloppy errors cost them dearly.

Be it through a misplaced pass, a kick early in the set, knock-ons or incorrect play-the-balls, Leeds just came up with repeated errors to hand Wigan precious territory, which later turned into points.

Curious case of Brodie Croft

There’s something not quite right with Brodie Croft at the moment, which is a worry considering his form in previous weeks. Right across the year, Croft has been let off the leash within this Leeds attack and given that freedom to play as a running threat, but tonight he just seemed like he was playing within himself.

This was certainly an improvement on his performance from last weekend, but it wasn’t what we’ve gotten used to from Croft.

A lot of this can be pinned on Jake Connor’s absence, with the recruit acting as the heartbeat of this Leeds side, but Jack Sinfield was again a positive spark for the Rhinos tonight, which puts Croft’s tough night even more under the spotlight.

Players do go through these things, and to be fair, he’s been great all year, but it’s a worrying time to have a dip in form.

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