
Wigan's young stars rose to the occasion to clinch a Betfred Super League slugfest against Warrington on a memorable night for Matt Peet's next generation at the Brick Community Stadium.
Four Warriors players - Josh Cartwright, Taylor Kerr, Kian McDermott and Austin Daniel - all scored their first senior tries for the club as they held firm to complete a rollercoaster 30-18 win.
Peet's men had limped into the clash without star full-back Jai Field as well as influential duo Junior Nsemba and Jack Farrimond as a consequence of Sunday's bruising Magic Weekend win over rivals St Helens.
Super League fixtures & results | Super League table
Get Sky Sports or stream contract-free on NOW
Choose the Sky Sports notifications you want
Listen to The Bench, Sky's rugby league podcast
They joined fellow star men Bevan French and captain Liam Farrell on the sidelines and Wigan's relatively untested line-up looked in serious danger of being overwhelmed as Warrington ruled the opening stages.
An uncharacteristic error from Zach Eckersley gifted Albert Hopoate the chance to squeeze over for the opening try with just five minutes on the clock, and 18-year-old Ewan Irwin doubled Warrington's advantage five minutes later after Wigan's Oliver Partington was penalised for swinging his arm at James Bentley.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Warrington's momentum was stemmed by a yellow card for James Bentley on 15 minutes, and during Wigan's numerical advantage full-back Cartwright scythed his way through a gap to reduce the deficit for the hosts.
Having been so clinical prior to Bentley's sin-binning, Warrington were clinging on towards the end of the first period with Lachlan Webster somehow preventing Adam Keighran from touching down, and a Jake Wardle effort denied by a slight deflection of Josh Smith's boot.
Also See:
Stream Super League with no contract
Get Super League tickets here
Latest Super League table
The Bench podcast with Jenna and Jon
Sam Burgess's side slowly started to unravel at the start of the second period. The 19-year-old Kerr squeezed over three minutes after the restart before Keighran's kick hauled his side level.
An Irwin kick nudged Wire back in front, but Eckersley responded by going over in the corner after a delicious dummy from Keighran, who then duly converted to put Wigan 18-14 in front.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Daniel was denied a try for Wigan after losing touch with the ball during an acrobatic finish in the corner, and Wigan seized upon their reprieve with Matty Ashton showing the youngster how it's done at the other end.
The slugfest continued with McDermott driving over for his first Wigan try to put them back in front, and they clung onto their advantage with 10 to go when the exceptional Irwin zipped through a gap but was just about held up over the line by Cartwright.
Daniel confirmed Wigan's win when he dived over 10 minutes from time to confirm their position in second place in the table and pile the pressure on leaders Leeds.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Huddersfield Giants 14-30 Bradford Bulls
Two Waqa Blake tries lifted Bradford to a 30-14 victory over Betfred Super League basement side Huddersfield at the Accu Stadium.
Chris Atkin contributed six goals for Bradford, who climbed to second-from-bottom to 10th with 12 points, eight more than Friday's opponents who remain rooted to the bottom.
The visitors struck first through prop Ryan Sutton, who scored a close-range try in the seventh minute of the contest.
This content is provided by Twitter, which may be using cookies and other technologies.
To show you this content, we need your permission to use cookies.
You can use the buttons below to amend your preferences to enable Twitter cookies or to allow those cookies just once.
You can change your settings at any time via the Privacy Options.
Unfortunately we have been unable to verify if you have consented to Twitter cookies.
To view this content you can use the button below to allow Twitter cookies for this session only.
Adam Swift hit back for the hosts with a pair of tries in the 14th and 23rd minute, but vice-captain Jayden Nikorima squeezed through to pull Bradford into a 14-8 lead by the halfway point.
There was bad news for Huddersfield to begin the second half when scrum-half Olly Russell was forced off and replaced by Zac Woolford.
Blake then added to Bulls' advantage, dotting down four minutes after the hour to make it 22-8.
Huddersfield tried to chip away at the Bulls' lead, and succeeded when Taane Milne dived over for a 72nd-minute try.
But Blake was not finished, grounding Nikorima's grubber kick for his second try which stood following a review.
Super League 2026 - upcoming key dates
Rivals Round reversed: July 23-July 26
Elimination Play-offs: September 19-September 20
Play-off semi-finals: September 26-September 27
Grand Final: October 3
Sky Sports will show every game of the Super League live this season, including two matches each round exclusively live. The remaining five matches will be broadcast on Sky Sports+.
View original source — Sky Sports ↗