2020 Wigan Warriors season

Wigan Warriors 2020 season
Super League XXV Rank	1st
Play-off result	Runners-up
Challenge Cup	Semi-finals
2020 record	Wins: 15; draws: 0; losses: 6
Points scored	For: 489; against: 318 [lower-alpha 1]
Team information
Chairman	Ian Lenagan
Head Coach	Adrian Lam
Captain	Sean O'Loughlin
Stadium	DW Stadium
Avg. attendance	12,222
Agg. attendance	48,889
High attendance	15,040
Low attendance	10,333
Top scorers
Tries	Bevan French (17)
Goals	Zak Hardaker (72)
Points	Zak Hardaker (164)
Home colours Away colours
←  2019 List of seasons 2021  →

The 2020 season is Wigan Warriors's 40th consecutive season playing in England's top division of rugby league. During the season, they competed in the Super League XXV and the 2020 Challenge Cup.

Preseason friendlies

The 2020 pre-season saw three matches played including a testimonial, against Leeds Rhinos, for academy graduate Liam Farrell who has been playing for the first team since the 2010 season. ^[1] The first match against the London Skolars was a continuation of an annual event between the Warriors and Skolars, resulting in a 70–6 win by the away side. The second match against the Leeds Rhinos resulted in a 10–22 loss for Wigan. The final match against derby rivals Leigh Centurions, ended in a 6–12 loss for the Warriors.

Date	Opponent	H/A	Result	Scorers	Att.	Ref.
17 January 2020	London Skolars	A	70–6
19 January 2020	Leeds Rhinos	H	10–22			[2]
23 January 2020	Leigh Centurions	A	6–12			[3]

Super League

Main article: Super League XXV

Source: ^[4]

Regular season

Matches

  Win  Draw  Loss  Postponed/Cancelled/Expunged

Date and Time	MW	Versus	H/A	Venue	Result	Score	Tries	Goals	Attendance	Position	TV	Report
30 January, 19:45	1	Warrington Wolves	H	DW Stadium	W	16–10	French, Powell, Marshall	Hardaker (2)	15,040	6th	Sky Sports	[5]
7 February, 19:45	2	Castleford Tigers	A	The Mend-A-Hose Jungle	L	12–16	Byrne, Burgess	Hardaker (2)	8,848	7th	Not Aired	[6]
13 February, 19:45	3	Toronto Wolfpack	H	DW Stadium	W	32–10	Smith, French (2), Burgess, Farrell (2)	Hardaker (4)	10,333	2nd	Sky Sports	[7] [lower-alpha 2]
23 February, 19:45	4	Hull FC	H	DW Stadium	W	26–12	French, Manfredi, Hastings, Isa	Hardaker (5)	12,005	2nd	Not Aired	[11]
1 March, 15:00	5	Huddersfield Giants	A	John Smiths Stadium	W	42–10	Isa, Marshall (3), Powell, Manfredi, Partington, Burgess	Hardaker (5)	6,574	1st	Not Aired	[12]
8 March, 15:00	6	Hull KR	H	DW Stadium	W	30–16	Hastings (2), Farrell, Powell, Marshall	Hardaker (5)	11,511	1st	Not Aired	[12]
13 March, 19:45	7	Salford Red Devils	A	AJ Bell Stadium	L	14–18	Hastings, Powell	Hankinson (3)	4,796	1st	Sky Sports	[13]
22 March, 15:00	8	Catalans Dragons	H	DW Stadium	Postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic: On 16 March the Super League and RFL announced the suspension of all games until 3 April. [14]
27 March, 19:45	9	Wakefield Trinity	A	The Mobile Rocket Stadium
Indefinite suspension of the Super League announced on 24 March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [15]
On 26 June the RFL announced the Super League would return on 2 August. [16]
9 August, 15:15	8	Wakefield Trinity	N	Headingley Stadium	W	23–22	Hardaker, French, Marshall, Bibby	Hardaker (3) Drop-goals: Smith	Played behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [17]	1st	Sky Sports	[18]
16 August, 18:30	9	Leeds Rhinos	N	Totally Wicked Stadium	W	28–10	Farrell, Manfredi, French (2), Bibby	Hardaker (4)		1st	Sky Sports	[19]
29 August, 16:15	10	Catalans Dragons	N	Halliwell Jones Stadium	Postponed due to two Catalans Dragons players testing positive for COVID-19. Wigan's schedule was changed to play their round 18 tie against Castleford Tigers instead, who had been freed up in round 10 due to Toronto Wolfpack's earlier exit from the competition. [20] [21] NB: This match was set to be aired on Sky Sports.
29 August, 16:15	18	Castleford Tigers	N	Halliwell Jones Stadium	W	30–22	Powell, Burgess, Farrell, Bullock, Flower	Hardaker (5)	Played behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [17]	1st	Sky Sports	[22]
3 September, 18:00	11	Hull KR	N	Headingley Stadium	L	18–34	Powell, Hastings, Smith	Hardaker (3)		3rd >> 4th [lower-alpha 3]	Sky Sports	[24]
12 September, 17:00	12	Catalans Dragons	A	Stade Gilbert Brutus	W	28–18	Gildart, French, Burgess (2), Powell	Hardaker (4)	5,000 [lower-alpha 4]	3rd	Sky Sports	[25]
25 September, 20:15	13	Wakefield Trinity	N	Halliwell Jones Stadium	W	28–16	Hastings, French (2), Powell, Gildart	Hardaker (4)	Played behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [17]	3rd	Sky Sports	[26]
29 September, 19:45	14	St Helens	N	AJ Bell Stadium	L	0–42				4th	Sky Sports	[27]
9 October, 19:45	15	Warrington Wolves	N	Headingley Stadium	W	18–14	Greenwood, Hardaker, Farrell	Hardaker (3)		2nd	Sky Sports	[28]
14 October	16	Toronto Wolfpack	A	Lamport Stadium	Fixture cancelled following Toronto Wolfpack withdrawal from the Super League 2020. [9]
15 October, 17:30	10	Catalans Dragons	N	Halliwell Jones Stadium	Postponed due to several Wigan Warriors players testing positive for COVID-19. The match was later cancelled as a revised date was unable to be arranged. [29] NB: This match was set to be aired on Sky Sports.
23 October, 17:30	17	Salford Red Devils	N	Totally Wicked Stadium	W	58–12	Powell (2), Farrell (2), French (3), Hastings, Gildart (2)	Hardaker (9)	Played behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [17]	2nd	Sky Sports	[30]
30 October, 19:45	19	St Helens	N	Totally Wicked Stadium	W	18–6	Bibby, Leuluai, French, Hastings	Hardaker		1st	Sky Sports	[31]
6 November, 19:45	20	Huddersfield Giants	N	Headingley Stadium	W	19–6	Powell, Hastings, Hardaker	Hardaker (3) Drop-goals: Hastings		1st	Sky Sports	[32]
8/9 November	21	Leeds Rhinos	Cancelled: Due to a significantly higher proportion of positive COVID-19 tests in the Hull KR squad, a decision was made to curtail the remainder of the season on 3 November. Select matches would still go ahead to enable all teams to have played a similar number of games. [29]
12/13 November	22	Hull F.C.

League table

Wigan's New signing Jake Bibby celebrating winning the 2020 League Leaders' Shield

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PP	Pts	PCT	Qualification [lower-alpha 5]
1	Wigan Warriors (L)	17	13	0	4	408	278	146.8	26	76.47	Semi-finals
2	St Helens (C)	17	12	0	5	469	195	240.5	24	70.59
3	Warrington Wolves [upper-alpha 1]	17	12	0	5	365	204	178.9	24	70.59	Elimination semi-finals
4	Catalans Dragons	13	8	0	5	376	259	145.2	16	61.54
5	Leeds Rhinos	17	10	0	7	369	390	94.6	20	58.82
6	Hull F.C.	17	9	0	8	405	436	92.9	18	52.94
7	Huddersfield Giants [upper-alpha 2]	18	7	0	11	318	367	86.6	14	38.89
8	Castleford Tigers	16	6	0	10	328	379	86.5	12	37.50
9	Salford Red Devils [upper-alpha 3]	18	8	0	10	354	469	75.5	16	44.44
10	Wakefield Trinity	19	5	0	14	324	503	64.4	10	26.32
11	Hull Kingston Rovers	17	3	0	14	290	526	55.1	6	17.65

Source: BBC Sport
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Points difference; 3) Number of points scored;
(C) Champions; (L) League Leaders' Shield Winners
Notes:

1. Does not include expunged win against Toronto Wolfpack
2. Following Toronto Wolfpack's decision to withdraw from the 2020 Super League due to the COVID-19 pandemic, ^[8] all previous results involving Toronto Wolfpack would be expunged from the 2020 season record. ^{[9] [10]}
3. Due to the number of games being postponed and the limited opportunities to reschedule the Super League changed the format of the table so positions would be based of win percentage thus allowing for an even competition if teams don't play all 20 matches. ^[23]
4. Due to the difference in regulations regarding the COVID-19 pandemic in France, a capped attendance of 5,000 was permitted for the game.
5. Where teams have the same win percentage, position is decided by points scored percentage (points scored divided by points conceded). ^[33]

Play-offs

Main article: Super League XXV § Play-offs

  Win  Draw  Loss

• All fixtures are subject to change

Date and Time	Round	Versus	H/A	Venue	Result	Score	Tries	Goals	Attendance	TV	Report
19 November, 19:45	Semi-final	Hull F.C.	H	DW Stadium	W	29–2	Burgess, Smith, Hardaker, Bibby, French	Hardaker (4) Drop-goals: Smith	Played behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [17]	Sky Sports	[37]
27 November, 20:00	Grand Final	St Helens	N	KCOM Stadium	L	4–8	Bibby			Sky Sports	[38]

Challenge Cup

Main article: 2020 Challenge Cup

  Win  Draw  Loss  Postponed/Cancelled

• All fixtures are subject to change

Date and Time	Round	Versus	H/A	Venue	Result	Score	Tries	Goals	Attendance	TV	Report
4/5 April	Sixth round	Warrington Wolves	H	DW Stadium	Postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic: On 16 March the Super League and RFL announced the suspension of all games until 3 April. [14]
22 August, 14:30		Warrington Wolves	N	Kirklees Stadium	Cancelled: Due to the withdrawal of tier 2 and tier 3 clubs, and Toronto Wolfpack from the competition, all sixth round will be redrawn. [39] Wigan was one of the six teams to receive a bye to the quarter-finals. [40] NB: This match was set to be aired on BBC One . [41]
19 September, 17:00	Quarter-final	Hull F.C.	N	AJ Bell Stadium	W	36–4	Powell, Farrell (2), French (2), Burgess, Gildart	Hardaker (4)	Played behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [17]	BBC Two	[42]
3 October, 14:30	Semi-final	Leeds Rhinos	N	Totally Wicked Stadium	L	12–26	Smith, Hardaker	Hardaker (2)		BBC One	[43]

Transfers

In

Player	From	Contract	Date	Ref.
Jake Bibby	Salford Red Devils	3 Years	June 2019	[44]
George Burgess	South Sydney Rabbitohs	2 Years	June 2019	[45]
Mitch Clark	Castleford Tigers	2 Years	June 2019	[46]
Jackson Hastings	Salford Red Devils	3 Years	July 2019	[47]
Kai Pearce-Paul	London Broncos	4 Years	November 2019	[48]
Brad Singleton	Toronto Wolfpack	3 Years	September 2020	[ citation needed ]

Out

Player	To	Contract	Date	Ref.
Samy Kibula	Warrington Wolves	1 Year	September 2019	[49]
Caine Barnes	Workington Town	Undisclosed	September 2019	[49]
Dan Sarginson	Salford Red Devils	Undisclosed	October 2019	[50]
George Williams	Canberra Raiders	2 Years	October 2019	[51]
James Worthington	Oldham Roughyeds	1 Year	October 2019
Callum Field	Leigh Centurions	Undisclosed	November 2019
Tom Davies	Catalans Dragons	2 Years	November 2019	[52]
Sam Grant	Swinton Lions	1 Year	November 2019
Mikey Fitz	Cronulla Sharks	3 Years	November 2019
Morgan Escaré	Released [lower-alpha 1]	—	June 2020	[53]

Loans Out

Player	To	Contract	Date	Ref.
Josh Woods	Leigh Centurions	1 Year	December 2019
Craig Mullen	Leigh Centurions	1 Year	December 2019

Squad

2020 Wigan Warriors Squad

First team squad								Coaching staff
1 Zak Hardaker – FB, CE, WG (gk) 2 Liam Marshall – WG 3 Chris Hankinson – CE 4 Oliver Gildart – CE 5 Joe Burgess – WG, CE 6 Bevan French – FB, WG 7 Thomas Leuluai – HK, HB, SO 8 Tony Clubb – PR, LF 9 Sam Powell – HB, HK 10 George Burgess – PR 11 Willie Isa – SR, LK, CE 12 Liam Farrell – SR 13 Sean O'Loughlin (c) – LF		14 Ben Flower – PR, LF 15 Joe Greenwood – SR 16 Morgan Smithies – LK 17 Oliver Partington – PR 18 Warriors Fans 19 Joe Bullock – PR 20 Liam Byrne – PR 21 Dominic Manfredi – WG 22 Mitch Clark – PR 23 Jake Bibby – WG 26 Romain Navarette – PR		27 Jake Shorrocks – SH 28 Harry Smith – SH 29 Jack Wells – SR 30 Ethan Havard – PR 31 Jackson Hastings – SH, SO 32 Amir Bourouh – HK 33 Joe Shorrocks – SR, LF 34 Kai Pearce-Paul – SR, LF 35 Sam Halsall – CE / [lower-alpha 2] 36 James McDonnell – SR 37 Harry Rushton – SR 38 Brad Singleton – PR				Head coach Adrian Lam Assistant coaches John Winder Matty Peet Darrell Goulding Legend: (c) Captain(s) (vc) Vice-captain(s) Injured Updated: 15 November 2019 Source(s): 2020 Squad Numbers

Notes

1. Later joined Salford Red Devils
2. James McDonnell is currently undeclared for a national side and is eligible for either England or Ireland

References

1. "Liam Farrell Testimonial Preview | News | Wigan Warriors". www.wiganwarriors.com.
2. "Wigan Warriors 🍒⚪ (at 🏡)'s Instagram photo: "FULL TIME | Wigan Warriors 10-22 Leeds Rhinos . Wigan Warriors suffer a 10-22 defeat against Leeds Rhinos at the DW Stadium in Liam…"". Instagram. Archived from the original on 25 December 2021.
3. "Wigan Warriors 🍒⚪ (at 🏡) on Instagram: "FULL TIME | Leigh 12-6 Wigan . The Warriors suffer defeat in their final friendly game. A great effort from a youthful Wigan side to…"". Instagram. Archived from the original on 25 December 2021.
4. "Super League (Sky Sports)". SkySports.
5. "Super League 2020: Wigan Warriors vs Warrington Wolves talking points". Sky Sports.
6. "Castleford 16-12 Wigan: Tigers punish indisciplined Warriors". Sky Sports.
7. "Wigan Warriors 32-10 Toronto Wolfpack: Bevan French and Liam Farrell keep Wolfpack at bay". Sky Sports.
8. "Toronto Wolfpack pull out of Super League season as relegation is cancelled | Toronto Wolfpack | The Guardian". amp.theguardian.com.
9. "Toronto Wolfpack season record discarded following withdrawal - Sports Mole". Archived from the original on 24 July 2020. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
10. "Toronto Wolfpack season record expunged following Super League withdrawal". Peeblesshire News.
11. "Wigan 26-12 Hull FC: Bevan French and Jackson Hastings inspire Warriors". Sky Sports.
12. "Huddersfield 10-42 Wigan: Liam Marshall hat-trick sends Warriors to top of the table". Sky Sports.
13. "Salford 18-14 Wigan: Red Devils come from 12 points down to claim Super League win". Sky Sports.
14. "Coronavirus: Rugby Football League suspends season until 3 April". 16 March 2020 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
15. "Update: Season Suspension". www.superleague.co.uk.
16. Smailes, James (26 June 2020). "Super League restart: When are games, venues, TV details and more". HullLive.
17. "Super League: 21 games in 29 days in August as fixtures for rest of 2020 regular season are revealed". Sky Sports.
18. "Wakefield 22-23 Wigan: Warriors survive late Trinity fightback". Sky Sports.
19. "Wigan 28-10 Leeds: Liam Farrell scores 100th try as Warriors move top of Super League". Sky Sports.
20. "Two Catalans players who featured in Challenge Cup test positive for Covid-19 | Super League | The Guardian". amp.theguardian.com.
21. "Wigan to play Castleford in R10 after Catalans clash postponed". 25 August 2020.
22. "Wigan 30-22 Castleford: Warriors edge Tigers in entertaining Super League clash". Sky Sports.
23. "2020 Betfred Super League | Competition Update". www.rugby-league.com.
24. "Hull KR 34-18 Wigan: Greg Minikin hat-trick helps Robins stun Warriors". Sky Sports.
25. "Catalans Dragons 12-28 Wigan Warriors: Joe Burgess' double helps Cherry and Whites to Super League win". Sky Sports.
26. "Wigan 28-16 Wakefield: Warriors go second after tough Wakefield win". Sky Sports.
27. "Wigan 0-42 St Helens: Regan Grace and Jack Welsby doubles help down young Warriors". Sky Sports.
28. "Warrington 14-18 Wigan: Warriors snatch Super League points late on through Liam Farrell". Sky Sports.
29. "Super League play-offs brought forward" – via www.bbc.co.uk.
30. "Wigan 58-12 Salford: Bevan French scores hat-trick as Warriors rout Red Devils". Sky Sports.
31. "Super League: St Helens 6-18 Wigan Warriors win top-of-the-table clash". Sky Sports.
32. "Wigan 19-6 Huddersfield: Warriors win League Leaders' Shield". Sky Sports.
33. "2020 Betfred Super League Competition Update". Rugby Football League. 9 September 2020. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
34. "Super League: Huddersfield v Castleford, and Warrington v Salford cancelled". BBC Sport. 28 October 2020. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
35. "Huddersfield season officially over". www.giantsrl.com. 11 November 2020. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
36. "Salford Red Devils: Super League club deducted three wins over financial breach". BBC Sport. 3 November 2020. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
37. "Super League (Sky Sports)". SkySports.
38. "Super League Grand Final: Jack Welsby clinches 8-4 win for St Helens over Wigan Warriors". Sky Sports.
39. "Challenge Cup sixth round to be redrawn" – via www.bbc.co.uk.
40. Jackson, William (29 July 2020). "Live Challenge Cup draw updates as FC, KR and more discover fate". HullLive.
41. Smailes, James (17 July 2020). "Challenge Cup 2020 schedule and final date announced". HullLive.
42. "Challenge Cup: Hull FC 4-36 Wigan Warriors". 17 September 2020 – via www.bbc.com.
43. "Challenge Cup: Leeds Rhinos 26-12 Wigan Warriors". 1 October 2020 – via www.bbc.com.
44. "Jake Bibby joins Wigan | News | Wigan Warriors".
45. "Wigan lure George Burgess to Super League | News | Wigan Warriors".
46. "In focus: Mitch Clark | News | Wigan Warriors".
47. "Hastings to become a Warrior | News | Wigan Warriors".
48. "Wigan sign Broncos youngster | News | Wigan Warriors".
49. "barnes and kibula to leave wigan". Wigan Warriors. 10 September 2019.
50. "Farewell Dan Sarginson | News | Wigan Warriors".
51. "Farewell George Williams | News | Wigan Warriors".
52. "Davies Leaves Wigan for Catalans | News | Wigan Warriors".
53. "Morgan Escare: Wigan Warriors full-back leaves Super League club by mutual consent". 15 June 2020 – via www.bbc.co.uk.

1. Salford forfeited a game against Warrington. Under RFL operational rules, the game is recorded as a 24–0 victory for Warrington and converse loss for Salford with the points scored/conceded applying to both teams. ^[34]
2. Huddersfield were placed on standby to take the place of any of the four teams in the elimination finals should one be unable to fulfil their fixture. ^[35]
3. Salford deducted three wins by the Rugby Football League for failing to meet the terms of a financial commitment agreed in 2013. ^[36]