2023 Wigan Warriors season

Wigan Warriors 2023 season
Super League XXIII champions
Super League XXVIII Rank	1st
Play-off result	Champions
Challenge Cup	Semi finals
2023 record	Wins: 24; losses: 8
Points scored	For: 762; against: 360
Team information
CEO	Kris Radlinski
Head Coach	Matt Peet
Captain	Liam Farrell
Stadium	DW Stadium
Avg. attendance	13,586
Agg. attendance	175,462
High attendance	24,275
Low attendance	11,451
Top scorers
Tries	Abbas Miski (28)
Goals	Harry Smith (85)
Points	Harry Smith (184)
Home colours Away colours
← 2022 List of seasons 2024 →

The 2023 season was the Wigan Warriors's 43rd consecutive season playing in England's top division of rugby league. During the season, they competed in the Super League XXVIII and the 2023 Challenge Cup.

Infobox statistics are correct for all regular season league matches

Preseason friendlies

Date and Time	Versus	H/A	Venue	Result	Score	Tries	Goals	Attendance	Report
22 January, 15:00	Whitehaven	A	Recreation Ground	W	22–14	Douglas, Astley (2), Sutton	Eckersley (3/4)		[1]
29 January, 15:00	Barrow Raiders	A	Craven Park	L	14–26	Miski (2), Forber	Eckersley (1/3)
5 February, 15:00	Salford Red Devils (Sam Powell Testimonial)	H	DW Stadium	W	32–4	French (2), Miski (2), Pearce-Paul, Field	Smith (4/6)

Super League

Main article: Super League XXVIII

Regular season

Fixtures

Date and time	Versus	H/A	Venue	Result	Score	Tries	Goals	Attendance	TV	Position	Report
18 February, 13:00	Hull KR	A	Craven Park	L	18–27	Marshall, Field, Pearce-Paul, Wardle	Smith (1/4)	10,029	Channel 4	9th	[2]
24 February, 20:00	Wakefield Trinity	H	DW Stadium	W	60–0	French (2), Marshall (4), Farrell, Field, Powell, Smith, Cust	Smith (8/11)	12,306	Not televised	5th	[3]
3 March, 20:00	Castleford Tigers	A	Wheldon Road	W	36–0	Marshall (3), Havard, King, Field	Smith (4/6) + 2 pen.)	7,565	Not televised	3rd	[4]
9 March, 20:00	Catalans Dragons	H	DW Stadium	L	10–18	Smith	Smith (1/1 + 2 pen.)	11,451	Sky Sports	3rd	[5]
17 March, 19:45	Huddersfield Giants	A	Kirklees Stadium	W	14–12	French (2), Wardle	Smith (1/3)	5,777	Not televised	3rd	[6]
24 March, 20:00	Salford Red Devils	H	DW Stadium	W	20–16	French (2), King	Smith (3/3 + 1 pen.)	11,492	Sky Sports	3rd	[7]
30 March, 20:00	Leigh Leopards	A	Leigh Sports Village	W	34–6	French, Field (2), Wardle, Miski (2), King	Smith (3/7)	9,189	Sky Sports	3rd	[8]
7 April, 15:00	St Helens	H	DW Stadium	W	14–6	Smith, King	Smith (2/2 + 1 pen.)	24,275[a]	Sky Sports	2nd	[12]
14 April, 20:00	Warrington Wolves	A	Halliwell Jones Stadium	W	13–6	Wardle, O'Neill	Smith (1/2 + 1 pen.) Drop-goals: Smith	15,026	Sky Sports	2nd	[13]
23 April, 15:00	Wakefield Trinity	H	DW Stadium	W	22–6	Marshall, Miski, Havard, French	Smith (3/4)	12,240	Not televised	1st	[14]
4 May, 20:00	Hull F.C.	A	MKM Stadium	L	10–14	Thornley (2)	Smith (1/2)	10,251	Sky Sports	2nd	[15]
12 May, 20:00	Leeds Rhinos	H	DW Stadium	L	18–40	Miski, French, Thornley	Smith (2/3 + 1 pen.)	12,167	Sky Sports	2nd	[16]
25 May, 20:00	Hull KR	A	Craven Park	W	26–22 (g.p.)	Farrell (3), Marshall (2), Miski	Smith (1/6)	Not recorded	Sky Sports	2nd	[17]
3 June, 15:45	Catalans Dragons	N	St James' Park	L	22–46	Wardle, French, Miski, Marshall, Smithies	Smith (0/5 + 1 pen.)	36,943	Sky Sports	3rd	[18]
9 June, 20:00	St Helens	A	Totally Wicked Stadium	L	16–34	Field, French, Miski	Smith (2/3)	16,272	Sky Sports	6th	[19]
25 June, 15:00	Salford Red Devils	A	AJ Bell Stadium	W	26–6	Shorrocks, Farrell (2), Miski, Marshall	Smith (3/5)	7,854	Not televised	3rd	[20]
30 June, 20:00	Huddersfield Giants	H	DW Stadium	W	22–6	Miski (2), Field, Marshall	Smith (3/4)	13,464	Not televised	3rd	[21]
7 July, 19:45	Wakefield Trinity	A	Belle Vue	L	26–27 (g.p.)	Field (2), French, Marshall, King	Smith (3/5)	4,185	Not televised	4th	[22]
14 July, 20:00	Warrington Wolves	H	DW Stadium	W	26–12	Marshall, French, Wardle, Farrell	Smith (4/4 + 1 pen.)	13,105	Sky Sports	3rd	[23]
29 July, 13:00	Leigh Leopards	H	DW Stadium	W	44–18	French (2), King, Dupree, Miski (3), Marshall	Smith (6/8)	15,377	Channel 4	2nd	[24][25]
4 August, 20:00	Hull KR	H	DW Stadium	W	64–6	Miski (4), Wardle, King, Smith, Mago, Field (3), Marshall	Smith (8/12)	11,464	Not televised	2nd	[26][27]
18 August, 20:00	Hull FC	H	DW Stadium	W	13–12 (g.p.)	Marshall, King, Wardle	Smith (0/3) Drop-goals: Smith	12,107	Not televised	2nd	[28][29]
26 August, 18:00	Catalans Dragons	A	Stade Gilbert Brutus	W	34–0	Miski (3), King, French, Wardle	Smith (4/5)	10,614	Sky Sports	2nd	[30][31]
1 September, 20:00	Salford Red Devils	H	DW Stadium	W	26–8	Farrell, Miski, Wardle, Field, King	Smith (3/5)	12,905	Sky Sports	1st	[32]
9 September, 14:45	Leeds Rhinos	A	Headingley	W	50–0	Wardle (3), Field, Marshall, Pearce-Paul, Miski, Farrell, Mago	Smith (7/9)	12,861	Sky Sports	1st	[33]
15 September, 20:00	Castleford Tigers	H	DW Stadium	W	48–6	Miski (5), Wardle, Powell, Pearce-Paul, Field, French	Smith (1/5), Hampshire (3/5)	13,109	Not televised	1st	[34]
22 September, 20:00	Leigh Leopards	A	Leigh Sports Village	W	10–6	Field, Wardle	Smith (1/2)	10,308	Sky Sports	1st	[35]

Table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	Wigan Warriors (L, C)	27	20	0	7	722	360	+362	40	Qualification to Semi-finals
2	Catalans Dragons	27	20	0	7	722	420	+302	40
3	St. Helens	27	20	0	7	613	366	+247	40	Qualification to Eliminators
4	Hull KR	27	16	0	11	589	498	+91	32
5	Leigh Leopards	27	16	0	11	585	508	+77	32
6	Warrington Wolves	27	14	0	13	597	512	+85	28
7	Salford Red Devils	27	13	0	14	494	512	−18	26
8	Leeds Rhinos	27	12	0	15	535	534	+1	24
9	Huddersfield Giants	27	11	0	16	473	552	−79	22
10	Hull FC	27	10	0	17	476	654	−178	20
11	Castleford Tigers	27	6	0	21	323	774	−451	12
12	Wakefield Trinity (R)	27	4	0	23	303	742	−439	8	Relegation to Championship

Source: Super League
(C) Champions; (L) League Leaders' Shield Winners; (R) Relegated

Play-offs

Date and time	Round	Versus	H/A	Venue	Result	Score	Tries	Goals	Attendance	TV	Report
7 October, 12:45	Semi-final	Hull KR	H	DW Stadium	W	42–12	Marshall (3), Field (2), King, Miski	Smith (7/7)	15,162	Sky Sports and Channel 4	[36]
14 October, 18:00	Grand Final	Catalans Dragons	N	Old Trafford	W	10–2	Marshall	Smith (1/1 + 2 pen.)	58,137	Sky Sports	[37]

Challenge Cup

Main article: 2023 Challenge Cup

Date and time	Round	Versus	H/A	Venue	Result	Score	Tries	Goals	Attendance	TV	Report
20 May, 14:30	Round 6	Leeds Rhinos	A	Headingley	W	18–14	French (2), Nsemba, Wardle	Smith (1/4)	7,103	BBC One[38]	[39]
18 June, 14:30	Quarter Finals	Warrington Wolves	H	DW Stadium	W	14–12	King, Miski	Smith (2/2 + 1 pen.)	9,302	BBC One[40]	[41]
23 July, 17:00	Semi Finals	Hull KR	N	Headingley	L	10–11 (GP)	Field	Smith (1/1 + 1 pen.)	10,926	BBC Two[42]	[43]

Transfers

Gains

Player	Club	Contract	Date
Toby King	Warrington Wolves	1 Year Loan	August 2022[44]
Jake Wardle	Huddersfield Giants	3 Years	October 2022[45]
Ryan Hampshire	Castleford Tigers	1 Year + 2 Years	January 2023[46]
Tyler Dupree	Salford Red Devils

Losses

Player	Club	Contract	Date
Thomas Leuluai	Retired[b]	N/A	August 2022[47]
Oliver Partington	Salford Red Devils	2 years	September 2022[48]
Jake Bibby	Huddersfield Giants	3 years	September 2022[49]
Jack Bibby			October 2022[50]
Sam Halsall
John Bateman	Wests Tigers		December 2022[51]
Umyla Hanley	Leigh Leopards	1 Year trial	January 2023 [52]
Brad Singleton	Salford Red Devils		July 2023

Squad

2023 Wigan Warriors Squad

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First team squad								Coaching staff
1 Jai Field – FB, SO 2 Bevan French – FB, WG 3 Toby King (on loan from Warrington) – CE 4 Jake Wardle – CE, WG 5 Liam Marshall – WG 6 Cade Cust – SO, HK 7 Harry Smith (gk) – SH, SO 9 Sam Powell – HK, SH, SO 10 Liam Byrne – PR 11 Willie Isa – SR, CE, LF, WG 12 Liam Farrell (c) – SR, LF 13 Morgan Smithies – LF, SR		14 Mike Cooper – PR, LF 15 Kaide Ellis – PR, LF 16 Ethan Havard – PR 17 Kai Pearce-Paul – SR, CE 19 Joe Shorrocks – LF, SR 20 Patrick Mago – PR 21 Iain Thornley – CE, WG 22 Brad O'Neill – HK, LF 23 Abbas Miski – WG 24 Logan Astey – SO, SH 25 Alex Sutton – FB, CE, WG 26 Harvie Hill		27 Junior Nsemba – LF 28 Zach Eckersley 29 Tom Forber 30 Ramon Silva 32 Ryan Hampshire – FB, SH, SO, WG 34 Tyler Dupree – PR				Head coach Matt Peet Assistant coaches Thomas Leuluai Sean O’Loughlin Legend: (c) Captain(s) (vc) Vice-captain(s) (gk) = Goal kicker Updated: 27 December 2022 Source(s): [1]

Notes

1. Largest home attendance since the 2005 Good Friday Derby^[9][10] Also largest attendance of the 2023 Super League regular season.^[11]
2. Leuluai went on to play the warm up games for New Zealand ahead of the 2021 Rugby League World Cup following his final game for Wigan. He then became an assistant coach for Wigan Warriors and his national side.

References

1. Fletcher, Charlotte (January 22, 2023). "Youthful Warriors win at Whitehaven - Wigan Warriors".
2. "Super League: Shaun Kenny-Dowall treble leads Hull Kingston Rovers to 27-18 win over Warriors". Sky Sports.
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5. "Super League: Catalans Dragons go top as Manu Ma'u double seals 18-10 victory over Wigan Warriors". Sky Sports.
6. "Super League: Huddersfield Giants 12-14 Wigan Warriors; Warrington Wolves 38-20 Leigh Leopards". Sky Sports.
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8. "Super League: Wigan Warriors emerge 34-6 winners over Leigh Leopards in 'Battle of the Borough'". Sky Sports.
9. Fletcher, Charlotte (April 7, 2023). "Biggest home attendance in 18-years - Wigan Warriors".
10. "Wigan Warriors announce their highest attendance at the DW Stadium since 2005".
11. "Ranked: Every Super League club's average attendance in 2023 as crowds rise with records aplenty broken". 28 September 2023.
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14. "Wigan beat Wakefield to go top of Super League". BBC Sport. 23 April 2023.
15. "Hull FC 14-10 Wigan Warriors: Hosts battle past Super League leaders to make it back-to-back wins". Sky Sports.
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19. "St Helens 34-16 Wigan Warriors: Jack Welsby stars to help Super League champions seal derby delight". Sky Sports.
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21. "Miski double sets up third consecutive Wigan win". BBC Sport. 30 June 2023.
22. "Wakefield seal massive golden point win v Wigan". BBC Sport. 7 July 2023.
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28. "Super League (Sky Sports)".
29. "Wigan shatter Hull with dramatic golden-point win". BBC Sport. 18 August 2023.
30. "Wigan Warriors smash Catalan Dragons 34-0 in France to showcase Super League title credentials".
31. "Warriors demolish the dragons". Wigan Warriors. 26 August 2023.
32. "Wigan 26 - 8 Salford - Match Report & Highlights".
33. "Leeds Rhinos 0-50 Wigan Warriors: Jake Wardle propels Wigan to win and back top of Super League".
34. "Super League (Sky Sports)". SkySports.
35. "Super League (Sky Sports)". SkySports.
36. "Super League: Liam Marshall stars as Wigan Warriors beat Hull KR 42-12 to seal place in Grand Final". Sky Sports.
37. "Super League Grand Final: Wigan Warriors crowned champions after 10-2 victory over Catalans Dragons".
38. "Two Betfred Challenge Cup Ties to be shown live on the BBC". www.rugby-league.com.
39. "Leeds Rhinos v Wigan Warriors - Rugby League". BBC Sport.
40. "BBC confirm Challenge Cup quarter-finals coverage with details announced". LoveRugbyLeague. May 23, 2023.
41. "Wigan hold on with 12 men to knock out Warrington - BBC Sport". BBC News. 2023-06-18. Archived from the original on 2023-07-26.
42. "Challenge Cup semi-finals: Double-headers, venues & TV details confirmed". LoveRugbyLeague. June 19, 2023.
43. "Relive Hull KR's golden-point Challenge Cup win over Wigan". BBC Sport. July 22, 2023.
44. "Wigan sign Toby King on loan for 2023 season". BBC Sport. 23 August 2022.
45. "Jake Wardle joins Wigan on 3 year deal". wiganwarriors.com. 9 October 2022.
46. "Wigan re-sign half-back Hampshire - BBC Sport". BBC News. 2023-01-27. Archived from the original on 2023-03-13.
47. "Wigan Warriors legend to retire at end of season & join coaching staff". BBC Sport. 31 August 2022.
48. "Salford sign Oliver Partington on two-year deal". BBC Sport. 23 September 2022.
49. "Huddersfield sign Wigan's Bibby on three-year deal". 28 September 2022. Retrieved 29 September 2022.
50. "Jack Bibby and Sam Halsall join Huddersfield on three-year deals". 9 October 2022.
51. "Bateman leaves Wigan to join Wests Tigers - BBC Sport". BBC News. 2022-12-26. Archived from the original on 2022-12-27.
52. Walker, Callum (January 13, 2023). "Leigh Leopards new signing after handing Wigan Warriors man squad number for Super League 2023".