Wigan boss Matty Peet admits Bevan French makes his life easier after watching the Aussie ace help destroy Leeds.
The reigning Man of Steel showed his class yet again, scoring two tries and setting up another as Warriors took a giant step towards retaining the League Leaders’ Shield for the first time. The champions blasted past Rhinos with a power-packed seven-try display. They will secure top spot if they beat visiting Salford in their final regular round game next Thursday.
On stand-off French’s performance, Peet said: “Bevan is very good; he makes my life a lot easier. All the spine played well. There’s more to come from them all but 38 points against a good defensive team, you’ve got to be pleased. We know we can post points. It wasn’t a case of Leeds rolling over. They came spirited.
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“But it was nice to see us play some good rugby, move the ball and get it to where we want it to be. That’s when we’re at our best. We wanted to be better. But there is more to come.”
Rhinos, rooted in seventh, must now win their final match at second-placed Hull KR to have any chance of claiming a play-offs spot. They hammered Hull 68-8 a week earlier to keep their top-six dream alive. But ruthless Wigan are a completely different beast.
The World Club champions essentially had this game won inside just eight minutes with back-to-back tries. Liam Marshall brilliantly flicked Harry Smith’s kick back to put Jake Wardle over for his 12th try of the season. In the next set, impressive Aussie loose forward Kaide Ellis thundered through midfield and French was on hand to finish.
Leeds rarely troubled the hosts and it was no surprise when Wardle produced his own classy flick pass to usher Super League leading try-scorer Marshall over for his 150th try in Wigan colours. Second half tries from Ellis, Abbas Miski, Keighran and French sealed the deal. Leeds boss Brad Arthur rued: “We were beaten by a way better side.
“They dominated us physically right from the start and one to 17 they owned their jobs. We didn’t. They started fast and hard and we didn’t handle that physicality. We need to make sure it’s a one-off. It’s not the way we want to finish our season. We need to be way better than that but it just shows we have some work to do in pre-season.”
