2021 Wigan Warriors season

Wigan Warriors 2021 season
Super League XXVI Rank	4th
Play-off result	Lost in Elimination Playoffs
Challenge Cup	Quarter-finals
2021 record	Wins: 16; draws: 0; losses: 11
Team information
Chairman	Ian Lenagan
Head Coach	Adrian Lam
Captain	Thomas Leuluai
Stadium	DW Stadium
High attendance	16,390[A]
Low attendance	5,555[B]
Home colours Away colours
← 2020 List of seasons 2022 →

The 2021 season will be Wigan Warriors's 41st consecutive season playing in England's top division of rugby league. During the season, they will compete in the Super League XXVI and the 2021 Challenge Cup.

Preseason friendlies

On 4 March, Wigan announced a pre-season friendly against Salford Red Devils ahead of the delay start to the Super League.^[1]

Date and Time	Versus	H/A	Venue	Result	Score	Tries	Goals	Attendance	Report
14 March, 16:00	Salford Red Devils	A	AJ Bell Stadium	L	6–20	Sam Powell	Zak Hardaker	Played behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic.	[2]

Super League

Main article: Super League XXVI

Regular season

The start of the 2021 Super League season, which ordinarily would have started in late January, was delayed to March due to the continuation of the COVID-19 pandemic.^[3] On 11 February it was confirmed that match week one would commence on Friday 26 March, with Wigan Warriors facing newly promoted local rivals Leigh Centurions in the second fixture of the round.^[4] The full fixture list was announced on 26 February.^[5]

Matches

  Win   Draw   Loss   Postponed

Date and Time	MW	Versus	H/A	Venue	Result	Score	Tries	Goals	Attendance	TV	Report
26 March, 20:15	1	Leigh Centurions	N	Emerald Headingley	W	20–18	Bibby (2), Hardaker, Bullock	Hardaker (2)	Played behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic.	Sky Sports	[6]
1 April, 18:00	2	Wakefield Trinity	N	Totally Wicked Stadium	W	34–6	Partington, Bibby (3), Hardaker, Bateman	Hardaker (5)		Sky Sports	[7]
15 April, 19:45	3	Leeds Rhinos	A	Emerald Headingley	W	19–6	Farrell (2), Hardaker, Hastings	Hardaker Drop-goals: Hardaker		Sky Sports	[8]
22 April, 18:00	4	Castleford Tigers	H	DW Stadium	W	22–12	Hardaker, French (2), Powell	Hardaker (3)		Our League	[9]
29 April, 19:45	5	Hull F.C.	H	DW Stadium	W	16–14	Hastings, Farrell, Bibby	Hardaker (2)		Sky Sports	[10]
17 May, 19:45	6	Leigh Centurions	A	Leigh Sports Village	W	30–16	Smith, Manfredi, French, Farrell, Bibby (2)	Smith (3)	~4,000[C]	Our League	[11]
22 May, 13:00	7	Salford Red Devils	A	AJ Bell Stadium	W	17–16	Singleton (2), Farrell	Smith (2) Drop-goals: Hastings	~4,000[C]		[12]
29 May, 17:00	8	Catalans Dragons	A	Stade Gilbert Brutus	L	0–48			1,000[D]	Sky Sports	[13]
11 June, 19:45	9	Huddersfield Giants	A	Kirklees Stadium	Postponed due to positive COVID-19 cases within the Huddersfield squad.[14]
18 June, 19:45	10	Hull KR	H	DW Stadium	L	8–18	Gildart (2)		~4,000[C]		[15]
24 June, 19:45	11	Wakefield Trinity	A	Mobile Rocket Stadium	L	6–14	Hanley	Smith	~4,000[C]		[16]
30 June, 19:45	12	Warrington Wolves	H	DW Stadium	L	14–40	Powell, Isa, Gildart	Smith	~4,000[C]	Sky Sports	[17]
4 July, 19:30	13	St Helens	A	Totally Wicked Stadium	L	6–24	Farrell	Smith	~4,000[C]	Sky Sports	[18]
11 July, 15:00	14	Huddersfield Giants	H	DW Stadium	W	16–12	Marshall, Clark, Smith	Smith (2)	~4,000[C]		[19]
16 July, 19:45	9	Huddersfield Giants	A	Kirklees Stadium	W	14–12	Clark, Farrell	Smith (3)	~4,000[C]		[20]
23 July, 19:45	15	Wakefield Trinity	H	DW Stadium	W	25–12	Bibby (3), Shorrocks, Marshall	Smith (2) Drop-goals: Hastings	5,555		[21]
28 July, 19:45	16	Warrington Wolves	A	Halliwell Jones Stadium	L	8–21	Marshall (2)		8,014	Sky Sports	[22]
1 August, 15:00	17	Leigh Centurions	H	DW Stadium	W	50–6	Leuluai, Hanley (3), Farrell (2), Halsall, Shorrocks, Hastings	Smith (7)	9,206		[23]
6 August, 19:45	18	Salford Red Devils	H	DW Stadium	W	16–6	Halsall, Powell	Smith (4)	9,431		[24]
13 August, 19:45	19	Hull KR	A	Hull College Craven Park	L	14–26	Marshall, Bibby (2)	Smith	6,230	Sky Sports	[25]
20 August, 19:45	20	St Helens	H	DW Stadium	L	2–26		Smith	16,390	Sky Sports	[26]
25 August, 19:45	21	Leeds Rhinos	H	DW Stadium	L	0–14			11,390	Sky Sports	[27]
30 August, 17:00	22	Castleford Tigers	A	Mend-A-Hose Jungle	W	22–0	Hastings, Marshall, Gildart, Singleton	Smith (3)		Sky Sports	[28]
5 September, 15:15	23	Warrington Wolves	N	St James' Park	L	6–10	Havard	Smith	25,762	Sky Sports	[29]
10 September, 15:00	24	Hull F.C.	A	KCOM Stadium	W	10–0	Bibby, Hardaker	Hardaker			[30]
17 September, 19:45	25	Catalans Dragons	H	DW Stadium	W	12–8	Isa, McDonnell	Hardaker (2)	12,852		[31]

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PP	Pts	PCT	Qualification[a]
1	Catalans Dragons (L)	23	19	0	4	688	398	172.9	38	82.61	Semi-final
2	St. Helens (C)	21	16	0	5	548	229	239.3	32	76.19
3	Warrington Wolves	21	15	1	5	588	354	166.1	31	73.81	Elimination Semi-finals
4	Wigan Warriors	25	15	0	10	387	385	100.5	30	60.00
5	Leeds Rhinos	24	13	0	11	556	440	126.4	26	54.17
6	Hull Kingston Rovers	20	10	0	10	497	458	108.5	20	50.00
7	Castleford Tigers	23	11	0	12	437	552	79.2	22	47.83
8	Hull FC	21	8	1	12	409	476	85.9	17	40.48
9	Huddersfield Giants	24	9	0	15	460	516	89.1	18	37.50
10	Wakefield Trinity	24	9	0	15	482	548	88.0	18	37.50
11	Salford Red Devils	22	7	0	15	402	584	68.8	14	31.82
12	Leigh Centurions (R)	22	2	0	20	356	870	40.9	4	9.09	Relegated to the Championship

Source: [1]
Rules for classification: 1) win percentage; 2) points scored percentage (points scored divided by points conceded).
(C) Champions; (L) League Leaders' Shield Winners; (R) Relegated
Notes:

1. Teams must have played at least 70% of scheduled fixtures to qualify for the play-offs.

Play-offs

Main article: Super League XXVI § Play-offs

Date and Time	Round	Versus	H/A	Venue	Result	Score	Tries	Goals	Attendance	TV	Report
23 September, 19:45	Elimination Play-off	Leeds Rhinos	H	DW Stadium	L	0–8			7,396	Sky Sports	[32]

Challenge Cup

Main article: 2021 Challenge Cup

Date and Time	Round	Versus	H/A/N	Venue	Result	Score	Tries	Goals	Attendance	TV	Report
9 April, 19:45	Round 3[E]	York City Knights	A	York Community Stadium	W	26–0	Hardaker, Smith, Halsall, Hanley, Clubb	Hardaker (3)	Played behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic.	The Sportsman	[33]
8 May, 14:30	Quarter Finals	Hull F.C.	N	Emerald Headingley	L	10–20	Bibby, Manfredi	Smith		BBC Two	[34]

Transfers

Gains

Player	Club	Contract	Date
John Bateman	Canberra Raiders	4 Years	July 2020[35]
Jai Field	Parramatta Eels	2 Years	November 2020[36]

Losses

Player	Club	Contract	Date
Sean O'Loughlin	Retired		November 2020[37]
Craig Mullen	Leigh Centurions	1 Year	November 2020[38]
Ben Flower			December 2020[39]
Joe Burgess	Salford Red Devils	3 years	December 2020[40]
Jack Wells			December 2020[41]
Jake Shorrocks	Newcastle Thunder		December 2020[42]
Nathan Wilde			December 2020[43]
Max Roberts	Oldham Roughyeds		December 2020[44]
James Barran
Joe Greenwood	Huddersfield Giants	2 years	December 2020[45]
Chris Hankinson	London Broncos	1 Year Loan	December 2020[46]
George Burgess	Released		February 2021[47]

Squad

2021 Wigan Warriors Squad

First team squad								Coaching staff
1 Bevan French – FB 2 Dominic Manfredi – WG 3 Zak Hardaker – CE, FB (GK) 4 Oliver Gildart – CE 5 Liam Marshall – WG 6 Jai Field – SO, SH 7 Thomas Leuluai (c) – SO, HK, SH 8 Brad Singleton – PR 9 Sam Powell – HK 10 Joe Bullock – PR 11 Willie Isa – SR, CE 12 Liam Farrell – SR 13 John Bateman – LF, SR		14 Oliver Partington – PR, LF 15 Morgan Smithies – LF 17 Tony Clubb – PR 18 Warriors Fans 19 Liam Byrne – PR 20 Harry Smith – SO, SH (GK) 21 Ethan Havard – PR, LF 22 Jake Bibby – CE, WG 23 Mitch Clark – PR 24 Chris Hankinson – CE (GK) 25 Joe Shorrocks – LF		27 Kai Pearce-Paul – SR 28 Sam Halsall – CE, WG 29 James McDonnell – SR, CE 30 Umyla Hanley – FB 31 Jackson Hastings – SH, SO 32 Ben Kilner – PR 33 Amir Bourouh – HK				Head coach Adrian Lam Assistant coaches John Winder Matty Peet Darrell Goulding Legend: (c) Captain(s) (vc) Vice-captain(s) Injured GK = Goal Kicker Updated: 7 December 2020 Source(s): 2021 Squad Numbers

Notes

1. Home attendances only
2. Home attendances only; does not include limited capacity or behind closed doors games due to the COVID-19 pandemic
3. Limited to one quarter capacity or 4,000 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom
4. Capacity capped at 1,000 due to differences in COVID-19 regulation in France
5. Equivalent of the tournament's usual Round 6. The structure of the competition was temporarily altered for 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

References

1. "Wigan Warriors confirm pre-season friendly". www.wigantoday.net. Retrieved 2021-12-15.
2. "A great run out for the lads today, but it's the home side who take the win". www.instagram.com. Archived from the original on 2021-12-24. Retrieved December 15, 2021.
3. "Super League season faces delayed start". 11 January 2021.
4. "Super League 2021: Round 1 fixtures confirmed, all six matches live on Sky Sports".
5. "2021 fixtures announced - Wigan Warriors". 26 February 2021.
6. "Leigh 18-20 Wigan: Warriors rally to deny Centurions a dream Super League return". Sky Sports.
7. "Wigan 34-6 Wakefield: Warriors power pass Trinity in Super League". Sky Sports.
8. "Leeds 6-19 Wigan: Liam Farrell double helps Warriors spoil Kyle Eastmond's rugby league return".
9. "Wigan 22-12 Castleford: Bevan French double helps Warriors to victory".
10. "Super League: Wigan Warriors maintain unbeaten record with 16-14 win over Hull FC".
11. "Super League: Bevan French inspires Wigan Warriors' 30-16 comeback win over Leigh Centurions".
12. "Super League: Jackson Hastings' drop goal seals 17-16 win for Wigan Warriors over Salford Red Devils".
13. "Catalans Dragons 48-0 Wigan Warriors: Dragons destroy previously unbeaten Super League visitors".
14. "Huddersfield vs Wigan Warriors postponed after seven Giants players test positive for Covid-19". Sky Sports.
15. "Wigan Warriors 8-18 Hull KR: Rovers shock Warriors to claim Super League victory".
16. "Wakefield 14-6 Wigan: Weakened Warriors fall to third successive loss". Sky Sports.
17. "Wigan 14-40 Warrington: Jake Mamo stars as Wolves see off Warriors".
18. "Super League: Lachlan Coote helps St Helens seal 24-6 derby win over Wigan Warriors". Sky Sports.
19. "Wigan Warriors 16-12 Huddersfield Giants: Hosts rally from 12-0 behind to claim Super League win". Sky Sports.
20. "Huddersfield 12-14 Wigan: Warriors claim second win in six days over Giants in fiery clash". Sky Sports.
21. "Super League: Jackson Hastings masterclass sets up Wigan Warriors for 25-12 win over Wakefield Trinity". Sky Sports.
22. "Super League: Warrington Wolves return to action with 21-8 derby win over Wigan Warriors".
23. "Wigan Warriors 50-6 Leigh Centurions: Hosts claim Super League win after double red card".
24. "Wigan 16-6 Salford: Warriors make it four wins out of five in Super League".
25. "Super League: Hull Kingston Rovers' rise continues with win over Wigan Warriors".
26. "Wigan 2-26 St Helens: Saints claim a fiery derby win against Warriors". Sky Sports.
27. "Super League: Leeds Rhinos boost play-off hopes with 14-0 win away to Wigan Warriors".
28. "Super League: Wigan Warriors back to winning ways with 22-0 victory over Castleford Tigers".
29. "Wigan 6-10 Warrington: Wolves edge Warriors at Magic Weekend".
30. "Hull 0-10 Wigan: Warriors seal fourth spot in Super League with win over Hull FC".
31. "Wigan Warriors 12-8 Catalans Dragons: Wigan gain confidence boost ahead of Super League play-offs". Sky Sports.
32. "Super League play-offs 2021: Leeds Rhinos edge out Wigan Warriors 8-0 to book semis spot".
33. "Wigan shut out York in Challenge Cup win". BBC Sport.
34. "Hull beat Wigan to reach semi-finals". BBC Sport.
35. "Bateman rejoins Wigan". BBC Sport.
36. "Jai Field joins Wigan". 9 November 2020.
37. "Sean O'Loughlin: Wigan Warriors legend to retire after 10 trophies in 19 years". BBC Sport. 13 November 2020.
38. Darbyshire, Drew (18 November 2020). "Leigh land promising utility Craig Mullen on permanent deal from Wigan". Love Rugby League.
39. "Ben Flower joins Leigh Centurions". www.rugby-league.com.
40. Darbyshire, Drew (4 December 2020). "Salford confirm capture of Joe Burgess". Love Rugby League.
41. Darbyshire, Drew (16 December 2020). "Salford announce signing of Jack Wells". Love Rugby League.
42. "Newcastle bring in Jake Shorrocks from Wigan". Love Rugby League. 22 December 2020.
43. Darbyshire, Drew (26 November 2020). "Newcastle sign Wigan youngster as Thunder retain homegrown duo". Love Rugby League.
44. "A Second Young Warrior Joins Roughyeds". roughyeds.co.uk. 20 October 2020.
45. Darbyshire, Drew (10 December 2020). "Huddersfield sign forward Joe Greenwood from Wigan". Love Rugby League.
46. "Chris Hankinson heads to London on loan". www.rugby-league.com.
47. "Burgess leaves Warriors". www.superleague.co.uk.