Wigan Warriors and Leigh Leopards meet in a Super League semi-final for the second year in a row and the early team news is in with both sides boasting very healthy squads for this time of the year.
That’s a massive boost that will hopefully only add to the spectacle with the first round of play-off games setting the bar high for entertainment levels.
Obviously, Wigan had a bye on account of their top two finish but third-placed Leigh put on a show as they dominated Wakefield Trinity on Friday night, running out as 26-10 winners.
That scoreline probably didn’t do Leigh justice but the performance itself will have certainly caught Wigan’s eye with Matt Peet’s side not likely to have as an easy a task as they did last year.
Wigan Warriors warned ahead of Leigh Leopards clash as pundit makes early pick
Leigh folded on the big stage in 2024 as they lost 38-0 to a brilliant Warriors side, however, the Leopards have since beaten Wigan twice, including in Wigan in their famous 1-0 round one win.
They’ll take huge encouragement from that, as well as the fact their team is in good nick and ahead of any pressers or team news, we’ve assessed what each squad could look like.
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Wigan Warriors team news
Wigan Warriors are the healthiest that they’ve been all season with Matt Peet only recently able to name all of his top 13 squad players for the first time in months.
Any injury concerns for Luke Thompson, Adam Keighran or Abbas Miski have been put to bed of late, whilst Bevan French is also back to his brilliant best.
Keighran and Miski both played in the round 27 win over Leeds Rhinos meaning Zach Eckersley missed out, with Matt Peet admitting that was through no fault of his own.
The only player Wigan will be without is Tom Forber who is recovering from a dislocated wrist but with Brad O’Neill and Kruise Leeming available, the Warriors will be fine out of dummy-half.
Leigh Leopards team news
Leigh, whilst very healthy, are a little worse for wear than their hosts Wigan and admittedly, they maybe don’t have quite the same squad depth.
That said, they’ve got a very strong squad and that was evidenced by the fact Ethan O’Neill was only named 18th man on Friday night. He has been struggling with injury of late but it’s believed he’s recovered and that the form of those ahead may have sidelined him.
Two men who are out are Louis Brogan and David Armstrong but both have been long-term absentees and won’t return until next year, with Armstrong potentially not back until April or even May after his ACL injury.
The biggest boost for Leigh this week isn’t the fact they came through unscathed against Wakefield in terms of injury but in terms of disciplinary with Edwin Ipape one charge away from a ban, whilst Lachlan Lam was also placed on report in that game.
That’s been passed to the RFL Compliance unit with both Leigh and Wakefield invited to present evidence relating to the ‘unacceptable language’ allegation made against him. Should anything come to light then Lam may face an Operational Rules Tribunal but that won’t be until at least next week, meaning he’s available to face Wigan Warriors.
