Latest news with #JaiField
The Guardian
04-05-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
Wigan step up on Magic Weekend's welcome return to St James' Park
Wherever it sits in the calendar, Magic Weekend always has the feeling of a seismic weekend in the shaping of every side's prospects. Last year it was much more decisive given how it was played in mid-August, just weeks before the playoff began: but even here, on the May bank holiday weekend, Magic's return to Newcastle felt hugely significant. That was in part because it provided the sport with a welcome tonic from the endless boardroom politics, with the public also voting with their feet on how Newcastle should remain the permanent home of Magic into 2026 and beyond, with a crowd of 64,156, the biggest since 2018, in attendance: and the highest ever Sunday figure too. But there were plenty of storylines on the field too, as the regular season hurtles towards the midway point in 2025. There is now a clear trio at the summit, with the reigning Super League champions solidifying their place in that leading pack with a hard-fought win over Warrington Wolves. They remain two points behind Hull KR, with Leigh just a further point back. It is still slightly too early to suggest that trio are the only contenders for the Grand Final: but right now, there is clearly a gap between the Robins, the Leopards and the Warriors compared to their next closest rivals. Magic is a stage built for the biggest and best players to showcase their talent – and Wigan's dynamic duo of Jai Field and Bevan French both crossed for wonderful tries here. That ultimately helped Wigan to have just enough against a Warrington side hit by injuries, but who showed plenty of spirit here but fell short, losing 22-20. But Sam Burgess' side, as mentioned, are one of a number of teams now falling behind the leading pack – three wins behind the trio already. That said, the Wire are firmly entrenched in a battle for the other three play-off spots with six teams: who are now just split by a solitary victory. The debate over the strength of Super League's high tackle laws has also begun to resurface, emphasised by the opening game of day two on Sunday. Huddersfield claimed their first win of the season at the tenth attempt with a 12-10 triumph over Hull, whose early-season promise is starting to falter slightly. Their cause wasn't helped here by the loss of two forwards in the moments approaching half-time. Sam Eseh was sin-binned for a tackle that was deemed to be dangerous on Matty English before, seconds later, Liam Knight was shown a straight red for an inexplicable hit on Sam Hewitt. It left Hull's coach, John Cartwright, calling Knight and his side 'dumb'. His counterpart, Luke Robinson – who had two players put on report for contact with the head – joined the growing calls for a greater level of understanding and common sense over the finer points of tackling in the modern era. Whether he is listened to remains unlikely. Sign up to The Recap The best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekend's action after newsletter promotion But what of Magic in general? It is at this point in proceedings that we raise the question about what could or couldn't happen next year. Murmurings of Super League potentially going to 14 teams in 2026 will not go away – but even then, Magic will remain on the calendar. The Guardian understands that talks between Super League and officials in Newcastle had started even before this weekend. The healthy crowd will have only added further weight to the fact that the game will be back at St James' Park in a year's time. In fact, this was the sixth-highest Magic Weekend crowd in history – and RL Commercial's CEO, Rhodri Jones, revealed to the Guardian on Sunday afternoon that a decision to bring the event back to St James' Park next year is a long way towards being finalised already: with no other venues under consideration. 'Fans wanted to come back to Newcastle and the stakeholders here have been great,' Jones said. 'The stadium is great and we're delighted with the weekend and the attendance. It's fair to say that positive conversations have already happened for next year.' In truth, it is difficult to imagine this event being anywhere else.
Yahoo
04-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Wigan step up on Magic Weekend's welcome return to St James' Park
Wherever it sits in the calendar, Magic Weekend always has the feeling of a seismic weekend in the shaping of every side's prospects. Last year it was much more decisive given how it was played in mid-August, just weeks before the playoff began: but even here, on the May bank holiday weekend, Magic's return to Newcastle felt hugely significant. Advertisement That was in part because it provided the sport with a welcome tonic from the endless boardroom politics, with the public also voting with their feet on how Newcastle should remain the permanent home of Magic into 2026 and beyond, with a crowd of 64,156, the biggest since 2018, in attendance: and the highest ever Sunday figure too. Related: Magic Weekend brings a divided sport together – for 48 hours at least But there were plenty of storylines on the field too, as the regular season hurtles towards the midway point in 2025. There is now a clear trio at the summit, with the reigning Super League champions solidifying their place in that leading pack with a hard-fought win over Warrington Wolves. They remain two points behind Hull KR, with Leigh just a further point back. It is still slightly too early to suggest that trio are the only contenders for the Grand Final: but right now, there is clearly a gap between the Robins, the Leopards and the Warriors compared to their next closest rivals. Advertisement Magic is a stage built for the biggest and best players to showcase their talent – and Wigan's dynamic duo of Jai Field and Bevan French both crossed for wonderful tries here. That ultimately helped Wigan to have just enough against a Warrington side hit by injuries, but who showed plenty of spirit here but fell short, losing 22-20. But Sam Burgess' side, as mentioned, are one of a number of teams now falling behind the leading pack – three wins behind the trio already. That said, the Wire are firmly entrenched in a battle for the other three play-off spots with six teams: who are now just split by a solitary victory. The debate over the strength of Super League's high tackle laws has also begun to resurface, emphasised by the opening game of day two on Sunday. Huddersfield claimed their first win of the season at the tenth attempt with a 12-10 triumph over Hull, whose early-season promise is starting to falter slightly. Their cause wasn't helped here by the loss of two forwards in the moments approaching half-time. Sam Eseh was sin-binned for a tackle that was deemed to be dangerous on Matty English before, seconds later, Liam Knight was shown a straight red for an inexplicable hit on Sam Hewitt. Advertisement It left Hull's coach, John Cartwright, calling Knight and his side 'dumb'. His counterpart, Luke Robinson – who had two players put on report for contact with the head – joined the growing calls for a greater level of understanding and common sense over the finer points of tackling in the modern era. Whether he is listened to remains unlikely. But what of Magic in general? It is at this point in proceedings that we raise the question about what could or couldn't happen next year. Murmurings of Super League potentially going to 14 teams in 2026 will not go away – but even then, Magic will remain on the calendar. The Guardian understands that talks between Super League and officials in Newcastle had started even before this weekend. The healthy crowd will have only added further weight to the fact that the game will be back at St James' Park in a year's time. In fact, this was the sixth-highest Magic Weekend crowd in history – and RL Commercial's CEO, Rhodri Jones, revealed to the Guardian on Sunday afternoon that a decision to bring the event back to St James' Park next year is a long way towards being finalised already: with no other venues under consideration. 'Fans wanted to come back to Newcastle and the stakeholders here have been great,' Jones said. 'The stadium is great and we're delighted with the weekend and the attendance. It's fair to say that positive conversations have already happened for next year.' In truth, it is difficult to imagine this event being anywhere else.
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Wigan's Jai Field runs the show against St Helens in front of Christian Wade
Jai Field scores Wigan's first try on Good Friday against St Helens. Photograph:Wigan continued their recent dominance over St Helens to inflict more misery over their greatest rivals courtesy of a thrilling Good Friday triumph on the day they announced the surprise signing of the rugby union winger Christian Wade. Advertisement Rugby league's biggest derby has been dominated by the Warriors of late. The days of St Helens' four straight league titles between 2019 and 2022 feel like a long time ago now, with this Wigan's seventh win in the last eight meetings between the teams. Matt Peet's side were once again superior here, producing a measured and disciplined display in difficult conditions to defeat the Saints and move up to second in the table, two points shy of the early-season leaders, Hull KR. Related: Hull KR v Wigan: welcome to the newest rivalry in Super League There was more good news for Wigan supporters with the announcement that Wade will join the club in the summer when the winger's commitments with Gloucester conclude. He may have a difficult time breaking into a star-studded Warriors side but he will be relishing the challenge after watching on from the stands here. Wade has played alongside some magnificent teammates but the prospect of linking up with Jai Field will be particularly enticing. The Australian was the undisputed star here, scoring two sensational tries that ultimately proved to be the difference between the two sides. Advertisement Field's first came as the half-hour approached. With the sides level at 2-2 after one penalty apiece, the full-back latched on to an inch-perfect kick from Bevan French to touch down. Harry Smith's cross-field kick then caused mayhem in the St Helens defence leading to Abbas Miski crossing in the corner, and while the Saints did have chances to respond, they were far too profligate when it mattered most in the first 40 minutes. Hull KR will finish the Easter weekend top of the Betfred Super League after withstanding a second-half fightback from 12-man Hull FC to claim a hard-fought 28-14 win. Less than a fortnight after beating their rivals in the Challenge Cup quarter-final, the Robins made it a double at the MKM Stadium as they bounced back from last week's first loss of the season to Wigan. Willie Peters' side led 16-4 at half-time against a side that were a man down from the 16th minute as a result of Cade Cust's red card for a reckless and full-force shoulder-to-head charge on Arthur Mourgue. The hosts narrowed the deficit to 16-14 thanks to tries from Tom Briscoe and Jordan Rapana but James Batchelor and Jared Waerea-Hargreaves touched down to give the Robins derby bragging rights. Advertisement Not since the early 1980s have the teams occupied the top two spots in the league table and a 21,000 crowd – Hull FC's highest since the 2009 Good Friday derby – witnessed a breathless encounter. Rovers' head coach, Willie Peters, said: 'Hull are a very tough team when they've got 13 players, but they found another leg when they had 12. They pushed us right to the end and that could have gone either way. 'We didn't really handle the 12 men the way we should. I thought we lost our way a little bit. I'm just happy that last 20 minutes, we found something when we needed to." PA Media They were reduced to 12 men when Moses Mbye was sent to the sin-bin before Wigan's Sam Walters followed him shortly after the restart, but the hosts struck again when Field looped around the back of the Warriors attack to collect a wonderful Harry Smith pass and make it 18-2. At that stage, it looked as thought the Saints would be heading for a heavy defeat but to their credit, they rallied well. They finally had a try when Lewis Murphy finished superbly in the corner and six minutes later Agnatius Paasi crossed. George Whitby converted both and suddenly the gap was just four. But with two minutes remaining, and the Saints pushing for a match-winner, an error from Tristan Sailor allowed Wigan to put the result beyond doubt as Miski crossed for his second.
The Guardian
11-04-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
Smith inspires second-half comeback as Wigan end Hull KR's unbeaten run
Wigan Warriors inflicted a first defeat of the Super League season upon Hull KR in an absorbing rematch of last year's Grand Final to remind all observers why they are still the team to beat in 2025. The reigning Super League champions trailed for most of the evening, but as they have proved so often in recent seasons, when the big moments arrive in big games they so often have an answer for whatever their opponents throw their way. They only took the lead for the first time on the night when Harry Smith scored in the final 10 minutes before, three minutes later, a scintillating counterattack saw Jai Field score to open up a 10-point lead in the blink of an eye. There would be no way back from there for the hosts. Rovers, who have made their best start to a season since they were last crowned champions of England in 1985, fought valiantly in the final stages but ultimately had no answer. They remain top, but the gap between themselves and the Warriors is now just two points, on a night when it could have been as big as six. Rovers were hampered by the absence of the reigning Man of Steel, Mikey Lewis, who picked up a groin injury in last week's Challenge Cup win against Hull FC. In his absence, hooker Jez Litten switched to half-back but there would be no doubting that the England international missing out in a game of such high stakes could be crucial. With the backdrop of another cacophonous atmosphere in East Hull, it was the home side who started well. And it was two former Wigan players who linked up for the opening try to great effect, as Oliver Gildart's deft pass gave Joe Burgess just enough space to score in the corner courtesy of a magnificent one-handed finish. But another former Warriors player was at the heart of the error that led to Wigan levelling the scores nine minutes later. Michael McIlorum thought he was being substituted but with changes not permitted at a scrum, he was shunted out wide to defend from the set play and the visitors took full advantage. Bevan French spotted the misread from Rovers and his crisp pass sent Zach Eckersley away into broken field for a stunning long-range try. Smith converted, and perhaps unsurprisingly, the competition's two best sides could not be split after the half-hour, with the scores level at 6-6. However, Rovers regathered themselves superbly after the setback. As half-time approached, they took the lead once again. McIlorum's withdrawal allowed Litten to return to hooker with Peta Hiku switching from centre to partner Tyrone May, and the two combined to send Hiku across, with Arthur Mourgue converting to make it 12-6. Wigan would push back as half-time approached but the Rovers defence was superb in keeping the reigning champions at bay, and keeping their six-point lead intact at the break after an absorbing half between two outstanding sides. Sign up to The Recap The best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekend's action after newsletter promotion Burgess then thought he had scored his second after appearing to ground a May kick, but a painstakingly long video referee decision ultimately adjudged he had dropped the ball. Within 60 seconds, Warriors surged up the other end of the field and cut the deficit down to just two points as Jake Wardle finished a wonderful move to score a sublime try – though Smith missed the first conversion of the evening, meaning the hosts remained narrowly ahead. It ebbed and flowed for 20 more pulsating minutes, but as the game entered the final moments, you knew every mistake would be crucial. And when Wigan were awarded a set restart deep into Hull KR territory, they took full advantage as the game entered its final throes as Smith cut through a fading Rovers line to score. As Rovers decided to chance their arm three minutes later in a desperate bid to reclaim the lead, Wigan seized upon an error from Burgess as French stepped through a gap before providing the killer pass for Field to break away. Abbas Miski's late try from another Rovers error then put the seal on a statement win for the champions, and underlined their position as Super League's premiere side.
Yahoo
28-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Aussie Jai Field signs new four-year deal with Wigan
Jai Field has signed a new four-year deal with Wigan, ensuring England's world and Super League champions will continue to be fuelled by his dynamic partnership with fellow Aussie star Bevan French. The 27-year-old former Parramatta speedster has inked a contract for the 2026 and 2027 seasons, with options for the following two years which would take him through to 2029. Wigan's coach Matt Peet is celebrating because he believes the man who can electrify from halfback or fullback has the "X-factor" that all Super League clubs are seeking, along with his old Eels playmaking colleague and great friend French. 👀⚡✍#WWRL — Wigan Warriors 🍒⚪️ (@WiganWarriorsRL) March 28, 2025 Field, who joined Wigan from the Eels in 2021 only to suffer an injury on debut against Leigh at Headingley in a behind-closed-doors game during the pandemic, has since gone on to become one of the most exciting players in the British and European game. "I'm really pleased to be extending my stay. I'm very grateful to the club and the fans who have shown so much faith in me over the past few seasons," he said. "I've enjoyed every minute of being here so far and looking forward to hopefully some more great memories here with this group and club." His searing pace and tries out of nothing saw him shortlisted for the top individual honour, the Man of Steel award, in 2022 and he was a key man for Wigan in their all-conquering last two seasons, with two League Leaders' Shields, two Super League titles, and a second Challenge Cup title. It was all capped for Field, who's scored 57 tries in 89 games for Wigan, by the World Club Challenge triumph over Penrith. During the recent trip to Las Vegas, Field's performance against Warrington helped remind Australian watchers of his talent and sparked suggestions he could move back to the NRL. But Field said in an interview with Sky Sports: "The game is a lot more expansive over here in England and it suits players like myself and Bev. That open style of play makes a difference, it's not completion-orientated. That free-flowing style appeals to us." Coach Peet enthused: "We're delighted Jai has committed his future to the club. He's a quality player who brings energy, excitement and a real X-factor to our team. "Just as importantly, he's a great teammate and a big part of our culture. We believe his best years are still ahead of him, and we're proud that they'll be in a Wigan shirt."
