St Helens win one-sided derby as Mark Percival piles misery on Wigan

When you are faced with opposition on the level of this St Helens side – arguably the best of the modern era, though that is a discussion for another day – it is those little glimmers of hope which hurt the most. By the end, Wigan’s race in the latest instalment of rugby league’s richest rivalry had long since been run, with a ninth defeat in 10 against their greatest foes from across the Billinge Hill somewhat of a formality.

The final scoreline underlines the dominance St Helens have on everyone else in Super League, and that includes a Wigan side who are almost certainly their greatest obstacle to a fourth consecutive title as things stand. Yet it is just how ruthless the reigning champions are when their backs are against the wall which sets them apart. Wigan had played their part in a thrilling opening quarter, and arguably even deserved to take the lead in front of a sellout crowd of 17,980.

Jai Field’s try which made it 4-0 in the Warriors’ favour had threatened a much closer derby than we ended up with. There would have been cautious optimism, perhaps even hope, among the thousands of travelling Wigan supporters that they could grind out what would have been a famous victory against their great rivals. Throw in the fact that St Helens’s Morgan Knowles, arguably the best forward in Super League, left the field with a head knock and never returned, and you wondered what was in store here.

But in the end, this ruthless, metronomic rugby league juggernaut did what they always do. They responded to those moments of adversity, clicked through the gears and, by the time the full-time hooter had sounded, they had once again underlined their superiority in one-sided fashion. After that Field try, St Helens scored 22