There could be only one winner as the top of the table Wigan Warriors were first up in a coronavirus truncated round eleven as they took on the side propping up the rest of the table, Hull Kingston Rovers.

Coach Adrian Lam named a side which was almost unrecognisable from the one which narrowly beat the Castleford Tigers last time out.

Morgan Smithies had picked up a five game suspension for a couple of misdemeanours but Wigan made six other changes to their winning side.

The Warriors were massive favourites for the win with the Robins receiving a twenty point start on the handicap coupon.

Surely there was no chance that Wigan would slip up and open the door to the chasing pack.

The Warriors played their ‘Get Out of Jail Free’ card last week against Wakefield Trinity when they escaped with a one-point drop goal win.

Two hours later their opponents in the other Sunday Round Nine fixture, the Leeds Rhinos, took a beating at the hands of St Helens as they were nilled, humiliated and embarrassed.

Wigan knew that a win would put them two point clear at the top of the table but if the Rhinos could overcome the bookies odds and steal the points, then they could draw level with a congested top of the table on ten points.

Leeds gave a debut to new signing Bodene Thompson and welcomed back Konrad Hurrell.

Wigan were without the services of Thomas Leuluai, out with an ankle injury, and George Burgess who was serving a one game suspension.

Going two points clear at the top of Super League was the reward for a Wigan Warriors win as they faced a struggling Hull KR at the DW Stadium on a chilly afternoon in Wigan.

A win for the Robins may not change their league position but crucially it would lift them four points clear of the Toronto Wolfpack and closer to safety from the relegation spot.

The two sides last met in August 2019 when the Warriors registered a 36-18 win at the DW building on a 52-10 win that they had recorded a month earlier.

It had been a much closer game between the two sides in June when just a single point separated the two sides.

Wigan were the strong pre-game favourites to register another win.

Toronto Wolfpack are finding life in Super League to be far tougher than last seasons Championship campaign, and they have started the season with back to back losses which see’s them at the bottom of the table.

And the tough games just keep coming for the Canadians who faced a round three game at Wigan, against a Warriors side who have beaten Warrington, but lost to Castleford, so far in this campaign.

The Wolfpack were without Sonny Bill Williams who has returned to New Zealand for the birth of his fourth child, further lengthening the odds of a Toronto win with the bookies, the home side were massive pre-game favourites.

Two places synonymous with our great game, Wigan and Hull, provided the two teams for a second round Challenge Cup encounter as Wigan St Patricks hosted West Hull at Claringdon Park for the chance to progress.

National Conference Division One side St Pats beat Dewsbury Moor in the first round of the competition, while National Conference Premier Division side West Hull emerged as victors from an away clash at Pilkington Recs.

Both sides have a long and illustrious history in the amateur game as well as a good Challenge Cup pedigree with the winner of todays encounter looking for a place amongst the eleven sides who will be joined by the Betfred league one sides in the third round draw.

While neither the Wigan Warriors nor the Salford Red Devils would be eliminated from the competition as a result of tonights game, a victory would give a massive confidence boost ahead of next weeks semi-final against St Helens for a place in the final.

Salford have exceeded most expectations in 2019 and thoroughly deserve their third placed finish.

After an awful start to the season, Adrian Lam’s Wigan have performed brilliantly to secure second spot.

The Red Devils are unbeaten in their last eight but have only won once in their last twenty-one visits to the DW Stadium.

Salford have lost all three meetings against the Warriors in 2019 but the first two by less than ten points.

The home side were clear favourites, but the play-offs have warned us to expect the unexpected.

Wigan secured second spot and a home play-off tie when the Tigers came to town.

The visitors needed a win to secure fifth and their own play-off participation – while knowing that they hadn't secured a victory, or scored a try, in either of their last two visits to the DW stadium, including last season's play-off semi.

But it was Castleford who opened the scoring in this encounter.

Awarded a penalty in the eighth minute, after Wigan were caught with hands in the ruck, Gareth Ellis went for the two and duly slotted the ball over.

Unfortunately for the visiting fans, it was the last time the black and amber team troubled the scoreboard operator until the 80th minute.

Warrington Wolves, without a league win in over a month, knew that the ideal preparation for next weekends Challenge Cup Cup Final would be a big win against fourth placed Wigan Warriors at the DW Stadium.

The Warriors knew that a win would lift them level on points with their opponents, and into third place with just a handful of games left until the play-offs.

Both coaches made a number of changes with Tom Lineham returning for the Wolves after suspension, with a second game for loan signing Matty Smith against the side for which he made 139 appearances.

The Warriors were without Ben Flower and Joe Burgess.

Fouth placed Wigan Warriors travelled to third placed Hull FC as they looked to close the gap to just two points as the race for the play-off places hots up.

A win for Hull would lift them six points clear of the Warriors and aid their claim to a top five finish while Wigan knew that defeat could see them end the weekend outside the play-off places.

Lee Radford juggled the side which missed out on Wembley last weekend with Masi Matongo replacing the injured Sika Manu.

Adrian Lam could call on the services of Sean O’Loughlin and Joe Burgess while Thomas Leuluai passed a late fitness test to take up his spot in the line-up.

FC won by a single point in extra time the last time that the two sides met, way back in February.

Thursday night rugby was a real mid-table scrap as a Wigan side in the ascendency looked to cement their place in the play-off places while a Wakefield side, seemingly on the wane after a great start to the season, were looking to avoid getting dragged into the relegation dogfight.

The home side were without the injured Tommy Leuluai, skipper Sean O’Loughlin, and Joe Bullock and had an unfamiliar looking bench.

Wakefield were without Mason Caton-Brown, replaced in the line up by a semi-fit David Fifita.

Trinity have won just one of their last eight matches but they were victorious when the two sides met in April at the Mobile Rocket Stadium.

Wigan had a three win run to defend, but none of the recent victories have been particularly convincing.

Legendary Super League coach Tony Smith took charge for the first time as his Hull KR side took on the Wigan Warriors in a curcial game down the wrong end of the Super League table.

It was ninth against eleventh as both sides looked to get away from the perilous bottom spot.

This was the first meeting between the two sides this season but Hull KR recorded a loss in the Challenge Cup last weekend, whereas Wigan had a week off and came into the game the fresher of the two sides.

KR skipper Joel Tomkins was back after missing last weekend through suspension, but Danny McGuire was unavailable after picking up an injury during training yesterday.

Liam Farrell was back in the Cherry and White after an injury lay off.

The final game of the first day of the Magic weekend was a game between two sides with recent Magic history.

Wigan Warriors and the Warrington Wolves met for a third consecutive on-the-road game.

The Warriors were 38-10 winners in Newcastle last season and the two sides drew 24-24 in 2017.

The Giants big win in game two saw them go ahead of Wigan into eighth but a Warriors win would see them back up a place thanks to their superior points difference.

The Wolves needed the win to at least keep a slender grip on the St Helens shirt tails and stop them disappearing out of sight at the top of the pile.

Warrington were the victors in both previous meetings this season and the form book suggested that this would be three from three in front of the end of day crowd at Anfield.

As Warrington Wolves and Wigan Warriors players and supporters held their breath for the sixth round draw of the Challenge Cup, both sides will have hoped for an easier draw than on against their arch rivals.

Both sides have a massive Challenge Cup history, sharing twenty-seven wins between them.

The Warriors last picked up the trophy in 2013 when they became the next name on a long an illustrious list after the Wolves who had won it in three out of the previous four years.

Warrington were, of course, the losing finalists last year when they were beaten by the Catalans Dragons whereas it was Wigan who had the disappointment the year before when they lost to Hull FC.

Second placed Warrington were the favourites with the bookies and expected to make home advantage pay against an eighth placed Wigan Warriors.

A win would do little to improve either sides league position, but would do a great deal more for team moral and aspirations for the remainder of the season, as we head towards the half way point in Super League XXIV.

Eighth placed Wigan Warriors needed to win by fifty-five points or more to go above the Salford Red Devils, whereas the London Broncos, currently propping up the table, needed a forty-two point winning margin to claw themselves ahead of Hull KR.

All the smart money was on more misery for Danny Ward’s travelling London Broncos, but Wigan were fragile enough in 2019 to be worried about every match they play.

It seems like just yesterday, in the frozen depths of winter, that Super League XXIII got underway with twelve clubs brimming full of hope and expectation.

The race is already run for ten of those original dozen hopefuls, but tonight, at the Theatre of Dreams, either the Wigan Warriors or the Warrington Wolves would cap their season with the ultimate silverware and the title of ‘Champions’.

It was sure to be an emotionally charged night, regardless of the eventual winner.

Warrington were looking to end a sixty-three year wait with their first title in over six decades, while Wigan would say a fond farewell to their coach Shaun Wane after seven trophy laden years in charge.

The bookies had the double W’s of Wigan as favourites to emerge victors, but the Wolves fans were in attendance filled with hope an belief that it really could be their year.

It was second against third for the remaining place in the Grand Final as the Wigan Warriors took on the Castleford Tigers In Shaun Wane’s farewell game at the DW Stadium.

Next Saturday night, and a Old Trafford date with the Warrington Wolves awaited and while the home side were slight favourites, few were confident about whether this would be Castleford second year in the showpiece final or Wigan’s tenth return.

 

Castleford needed to overcome the disappointment of last weeks nilling at St Helens to overcome a confident and well drilled Wigan.

The Warriors had their big guns back in the side including Sam Tomkins and skipper O’Loughlin.

Castleford were missing a few first choice picks but still put out a strong looking side.

 

Wigan Warriors knew that they needed a win from tonights game to secure second spot in the league and a home play-off semi-final, probably against the Castleford Tigers.

The Giants, who recorded a 20-12 win over the Warriors at the John Smith’s Stadium in mid-July.

Wigan named Sam Tomkins in the halves with Morgan Escare at full-back after losing Thomas Leuluai through injury.

The Giants were without a few players through injury and with nothing to lose, and relentless Huddersfield rain, they could be forgiven for not going into the game with all guns blazing.

The Wigan Warriors went into tonights game knowing that a win would end opponents Warrington Wolves hopes of a top four finish and give them a massive advantage over third placed Castelford Tigers going into the last two games of the Super Eights.

Wigan had won all four of their Super Eights fixtures while Warrington had recorded just one loss.

It’s honours shared with two wins each in the four meetings so far this season, Wigan winning the last match up between the two sides at the DW two months ago by a margin of 13-12.

The game of the twentieth round drew the SKY cameras to the DW Stadium as second placed Wigan Warriors hosted third placed Warrington Wolves with both sides looking to consolidate their top four spots ahead of the split into the Super Eights.

This is the fourth 2018 meeting between the two sides with the Wolves having been the victors on two previous occasions, the last meeting being their 23-0 win in the Challenge Cup on the 2nd June.

A rejuvinated Warriors were favourites with the bookies, but the Wolves are a side who have a recent habit of beating their hosts.

Warrington’s nine-match winning streak came crashing to an end when they met Wigan at St James Park today.

A see-sawing first half saw dominance switch between the two on-form sides.

Wary of what a second v third tie at Magic Weekend could produce, Wigan took the first opportunity to open the scoring by kicking a penalty.

But it was Warrington who crossed the try-line first, with Harvey Livett going over when the ball was moved across the field after Ryan Atkins was stopped in inches short in the opposite corner.