Why Wigan look champions-elect: but Wakefield ‘robbed’ by crucial moment

Wigan Warriors moved to the top of Super League with another eye-catching victory, their 12th in succession in the league, as they proved too strong for Wakefield Trinity.

Matt Peet’s side continue to look like the team to beat after writing their name into the record books with a win that was certainly not flawless, but ultimately deserved.

Here’s what we learned from another big night at the Brick..

Are Wigan now champions-elect?

The omens suggest so. This was Wigan’s 12th straight Super League win, setting an all-time record for the Warriors in the summer era.

On three previous occasions before this season have they registered 11 straight league wins: 1998, 2013 and 2023. Warriors fans will know what happened at the end of all those years: Wigan were ultimately crowned champions.

It would take a brave individual to back against them from here, too. They feel like favourites for top spot, and they feel like favourites to go on and win the Grand Final.

But were Wakefield robbed?

Well, Daryl Powell certainly didn’t leave much up to the imagination when the cameras caught him in the early stages of the game on Friday night.

It’s fair to assume that Wigan would have, in all probability, had enough to get the job done no matter what happened with Max Jowitt’s controversial no try.

But Jowitt, for all the money in the world, looked like he had grounded the ball – yet the referee and the video referee disagreed. It was a critical call in terms of the momentum of the game as within a few minutes, Wigan had opened the scoring through Bevan French. Nine minutes later, they were 18-0 up.

Wakefield are finding out the hard way that big moments dictate big matches. But this was none of their own doing – they were harshly done to.

Wigan show why moments matter

As mentioned, these kinds of nights are all about big moments – and Wigan have two players in abundance who can deliver when the chips are down.

It’s a tale as old as time: Bevan French and Jai Field winning games for Wigan Warriors. They did it again here.

In two critical moments, the game felt in the balance. In the first half, French opened the scoring after a period of Wakefield pressure before Field cut through in the second half just as Trinity were on top once again.

Wakefield’s time will come – but they are a level below a team like Wigan right now. They were put under pressure in the second half, but they held their nerve and came through it. That will have been perhaps what pleased Matt Peet the most: the resolve his side possess when their backs are against the wall.

French and Field will get the headlines but sometimes, it’s the things you don’t immediately see which really matter.