2026 Wigan Warriors season

Wigan Warriors 2026 season
Team information
CEO	Kris Radlinski
Head Coach	Matt Peet
Captain	Liam Farrell
Stadium	Brick Community Stadium
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The 2026 season will be the Wigan Warriors's 46th consecutive season playing in England's top division of rugby league. They will compete in the 2026 Super League season and the 2026 Challenge Cup.

Preseason friendlies

Wigan's preseason game against Hull FC will be Liam Marshall's testimonial match. ^[1]

Date and Time	Versus	H/A	Venue	Result	Score	Tries	Goals	Attendance	TV	Report
10 January; 13:00	North Wales Crusaders	A	Eirias Stadium		–
1 February; 15:00	Hull FC	H	Brick Community Stadium		–

Super League

Main article: 2026 Super League season

From 2026, the Super League expanded to 14 teams, with Toulouse Olympique and York Knights being promoted from the RFL Championship via the IMG Grading system. ^[2] At a meeting of all twelve Super League teams at the Headingley Rugby Stadium on 28 July 2025 to vote on the expansion proposal, Wigan Warriors were the only club to abstain from voting. ^[3]

Wigan's 2026 Super League fixtures were announced on 27 November 2025, ^[4] with the opening round fixtures confirmed the day prior. ^[5] After speculation regarding its inclusion in the 2026 calendar, Wigan's Magic Weekend fixture was confirmed on 25 November; with the event taking place at the Bramley-Moore Dock Stadium in Liverpool. ^[6]

Wigan's away fixture against Catalans Dragons was moved to Paris by the hosts in 2025 to celebrate 20 years of the club competing in Super League, in addition to also marking 30 years of French clubs competing in the British rugby league system. ^{[7] [8]} The match will be played as a double-header with the Super XIII 2025–2026 Grand Final. ^[9]

Fixtures

Date and Time	Round	Versus	H/A	Venue	Result	Score	Tries	Goals	Attendance	TV [a]	Pos.	Report
15 February; 15:00	Round 1	Castleford Tigers	A	Wheldon Road		–				BBC Red Button
21 February; 20:00	Round 2	Hull FC	H	Brick Community Stadium		–				Sky Sports+
26 February; 20:00	Round 3	Leigh Leopards	H	Brick Community Stadium		–				Sky Sports Exclusive
7 March; 17:00 (GMT)	Round 4	Toulouse Olympique	A	Stade Ernest-Wallon		–				Sky Sports Exclusive
19 March; 20:00	Round 5	York Knights	H	Brick Community Stadium		–				Sky Sports+
28 March; 15:00	Round 6	Huddersfield Giants	H	Brick Community Stadium		–				Sky Sports+
3 April; 15:00	Round 7 (Good Friday)	St Helens	A	Langtree Park		–				Sky Sports Main Event
19 April; 15:00	Round 8	Castleford Tigers	H	Brick Community Stadium		–				Sky Sports+
24 April; 20:00	Round 9	Warrington Wolves	A	Halliwell Jones Stadium		–				Sky Sports Exclusive
2 May; 15:00	Round 10	Bradford Bulls	H	Brick Community Stadium		–				BBC Red Button
15 May; 20:00	Round 11	Leeds Rhinos	H	Brick Community Stadium		–				Sky Sports Exclusive
21 May; 20:00	Round 12	Hull Kingston Rovers	A	Craven Park		–				Sky Sports Exclusive
6 June; 18:30 (BST)	Round 13	Catalans Dragons	N	Stade Jean-Bouin		–				Sky Sports Exclusive
12 June; 20:00	Round 14	Wakefield Trinity	A	Belle Vue		–				Sky Sports Exclusive
20 June; 15:00	Round 15	York Knights	A	York Community Stadium		–				Sky Sports+
27 June; 15:00	Round 16	Hull FC	A	MKM Stadium		–				Sky Sports
5 July; TBC	Round 17 (Magic Weekend)	St Helens	N	Bramley-Moore Dock Stadium		–				Sky Sports
10 July; 20:00	Round 18	Warrington Wolves	H	Brick Community Stadium		–				Sky Sports
17 July; 20:00	Round 19	Huddersfield Giants	A	Kirklees Stadium		–				Sky Sports
24 July; 20:00	Round 20	St Helens	H	Brick Community Stadium		–				Sky Sports
31 July; 20:00	Round 21	Leigh Leopards	A	Leigh Sports Village		–				Sky Sports
8 August; 17:30	Round 22	Toulouse Olympique	H	Brick Community Stadium		–				Sky Sports
15 August; 15:00	Round 23	Bradford Bulls	A	Odsal Stadium		–				Sky Sports
21 August; 20:00	Round 24	Wakefield	H	Brick Community Stadium		–				Sky Sports
27 August; 20:00	Round 25	Hull Kingston Rovers	H	Brick Community Stadium		–				Sky Sports
5 September; 20:00	Round 26	Leeds Rhinos	A	Headingley Rugby Stadium		–				Sky Sports
11 September; 20:00	Round 27	Catalans Dragons	H	Brick Community Stadium		–				Sky Sports

Table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	Bradford Bulls	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Advance to Semi-finals
2	Castleford Tigers	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	Catalans Dragons	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Advance to Eliminators
4	Huddersfield Giants	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
5	Hull F.C.	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
6	Hull Kingston Rovers	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
7	Leeds Rhinos	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
8	Leigh Leopards	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
9	St Helens	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
10	Toulouse Olympique	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
11	Wakefield Trinity	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
12	Warrington Wolves	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
13	Wigan Warriors	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
14	York Knights	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Relegated to Championship

Source:

Challenge Cup

Main article: 2026 Challenge Cup

Transfers

Gains

Player	Club	Contract	Date
Dayon Sambou	St Helens	4 years	October 2025 [12]
Jonny Vaughan
Oliver Wilson	Huddersfield Giants	3 years	November 2025 [13]
Finn McMillan	Barrow Raiders	2 years + 1 Year	December 2025 [14]

Losses

Player	Club	Contract	Date
Christian Wade	Newcastle Red Bulls		October 2025 [15] [16]
Liam Byrne	Warrington Wolves	2 Years + 1 Year	October 2025 [17] [18]
Trent Kelly-Duffy	Swinton Lions		October 2025 [19]
Harvie Hill	Hull F.C.	4 Years	October 2025 [20]
Tyler Dupree	Toulouse Olympique	1 Year Loan	November 2025 [21]
Jacob Douglas	St Helens	3 Years	November 2025 [22]
Harvey Makin	Oldham Roughyeds	1 Year Loan	November 2025 [23]

Notes

1. Ahead of 2024, Sky Sports announced they would be broadcasting all Super League matches over the next three seasons. ^[10] Exact TV channels can be sourced by using WayBack Machine on RugbyLeagueOnTV.
   NB Not all games were broadcast on Sky Sports TV (advertised as "Sky Sports Exclusives"), with the remainder being broadcast using Sky Sports+, their on demand services accessible online or via red button. These games were also made available on Super League+, and a select few on the BBC. ^[11] Further, games on Main Event were also broadcast on Action or Arena.

References

1. Darbyshire, Drew (7 November 2025). "Wigan Warriors pre-season friendly confirmed in Liam Marshall's testimonial match". Wigan Today. Retrieved 27 November 2025.
2. Freeman, Jay (17 October 2025). "York and Toulouse to play in expanded Super League". BBC Sport. Retrieved 16 December 2025.
3. Bower, Aaron (28 July 2025). "The three clubs who did not vote for Super League expansion revealed". Love Rugby League. Retrieved 16 December 2025.
4. "Super League 2026 fixtures: Full regular season fixture list, plus play-off and Grand Final dates". Sky Sports. 27 November 2025. Retrieved 28 November 2025.
5. Olawumi, Ben (26 November 2025). "First BBC broadcast pick of new Super League season revealed in Round 1 schedule". Love Rugby League. Retrieved 27 November 2025.
6. "Hill Dickinson Stadium to host 2026 Magic Weekend". BBC Sport. 25 November 2025. Retrieved 27 November 2025.
7. "Catalans to face Wigan in Paris during 2026 season". BBC Sport. 25 July 2025. Retrieved 27 November 2025.
8. "Super League: Catalans Dragons to face Wigan Warriors in Paris in 2026 to mark 20th anniversary". Sky Sports. Retrieved 27 November 2025.
9. "Wigan's historic Paris trip to become historic double-header with second game on bill". Love Rugby League. 21 December 2025. Retrieved 23 December 2025.
10. "Sky Sports to show every Super League match live as part of historic new three-year TV rights deal". Sky Sports. Retrieved 7 September 2024.
11. "Super League: BBC to show live games for first time after signing three-year broadcast deal". BBC Sport. 7 February 2024. Retrieved 7 September 2024.
12. "Wigan Warriors sign St Helens pair Jonny Vaughan and Dayon Sambou". BBC Sport. 21 September 2025. Retrieved 10 October 2025.
13. "Wigan sign Wilson from Huddersfield for 2026". BBC Sport. 10 November 2025.
14. "Wigan bring in Barrow forward McMillan". BBC Sport. 18 December 2025.
15. "Newcastle Red Bulls: Christian Wade to leave Wigan for rugby union". BBC Sport. 8 September 2025. Retrieved 10 October 2025.
16. "Christian Wade returns to rugby union with Newcastle Red Bulls after leaving rugby league side Wigan Warriors | Rugby Union News". Sky Sports. Retrieved 10 October 2025.
17. "Warrington: Wigan forward Liam Byrne to join Wolves for 2026 season". BBC Sport. 10 September 2025. Retrieved 10 October 2025.
18. "Byrne to depart Warriors at season's end with Super League switch confirmed". Wigan Today. 10 September 2025. Retrieved 10 October 2025.
19. Olawumi, Ben (16 September 2025). "Wigan Warriors forward among young Super League trio to join League 1 heavyweights". Love Rugby League. Retrieved 10 October 2025.
20. "Harvie Hill: Hull FC sign Wigan Warriors prop on four-year deal". BBC Sport. 17 September 2025. Retrieved 10 October 2025.
21. "Tyler Dupree: Wigan Warriors prop to spend 2026 on loan at Toulouse". BBC Sport. 4 November 2025. Retrieved 14 November 2025.
22. "St Helens sign winger Douglas on three-year deal". BBC Sport. 12 November 2025. Retrieved 12 November 2025.
23. "Wigan Warriors prop makes return to Championship for 2026 season". Love Rugby League. 28 November 2025. Retrieved 28 November 2025.