Wigan 46-8 Leeds: Liam Marshall hat-trick heaps more misery on Rhinos
By Robert Mulhern
Last Updated: 29/06/18 9:04am
Liam Marshall crossed for a hat-trick as Wigan brushed aside a muted Leeds challenge to score an impressive 46-8 Betfred Super League win.
The Warriors had been on the road for the last two months but their return to the DW Stadium was a stylish and clinical offering on a night when both the temperature and the scoreboard soared.
Leeds made the best possible start, confounding their poor form of six consecutive losses to put their stamp on the contest early on with a Brett Ferres try after just five minutes.
But Wigan's response was fulsome as they attacked Leeds on the outer edges and in Marshall they had an excellent finisher for their finely-tuned and expansive gameplan.
He hit Leeds for two touchline-hugging scores to wrest control of the contest back and, increasingly, Leeds found themselves bested in the territorial, possession and tempo stakes.
The Rhinos played their best rugby in that opening salvo, but they found a Wigan side in a mood so stubborn that their grip on the contest looked cast-iron for much of the entire 80 minutes.
The opportunities that did come the way of Brian McDermott's Rhinos were few, and often their attacks floundered under needless errors as they slumped to a record seventh defeat.
Leeds' kicking game looked to offer their best chance of getting a foothold in the game, but Wigan were surefooted under what attacks they mounted through this play and when Josh Woods crossed for his debut try, the way back for the visitors already looked too long to conquer.
Sam Tomkins was in imperious form for Wigan off the tee and he would finish with nine successful kicks from 10 attempts and break the 1,000 career-points barrier, as he helped to ensure Wigan went in at the interval with a 22-4 lead.
The Rhinos created a great chance upon the resumption and Luke Briscoe was somewhat unfortunate to see his 41st-minute score disallowed after he was adjudged to have stolen a high kick in the air.
And from there you knew it was not going to be Leeds' night.
Within minutes Liam Farrell dotted down for Wigan's fourth, exploiting space left behind by the injured Jack Walker and then veteran Tommy Leuluai muscled his way over from close range as the home side bit down on their advantage.
Leeds responded with a remarkable effort from Joel Moon who squeezed across in the corner with only millimetres to spare.
But there was no way back for the Rhinos and their attempts to reduce the winning margin further created additional tries for the flying Tom Davies and, finally, Marshall whose hat-trick effort brought the curtain down on the contest.
