Wigan Warriors U18 44 Leeds Rhinos U18 12

A tough evening at Robin Park Arena saw Leeds Rhinos Under-18s lose out 44-12 to league leaders Wigan Warriors; Sonny Hetherington and Seth Marchant scoring late consolation efforts.

Facing off against a Wigan side who came into the game unbeaten in their nine games so far in 2026, the Rhinos quickly found themselves behind on the scoreboard as four tries gave the home side a commanding lead. Leeds mistakes proved costly as the Cherry and Whites got a try on their first set following a knock-on by Evan Jones. Shifting to the left edge, Zak Bielecki managed to get outside of Lewis Jalal and score in the corner for the home side’s first try, before Samuel Dickenson dived between Jack Mears and Theo Roberts for a score minutes later.

A deep restart from Roberts was also punished as the Warriors spine of Dickenson and Maden opened space for Bielecki, who took Maden’s looping pass to get his second try of the evening. On the opposite wing, a knock on by Bailey Hardy led to Conner Oxbury extending the Warriors’ lead further – the winger stepping back inside his opposite number to put the ball in the corner. Whilst Alfie Maden was unable to convert any of the tries, Wigan still held an 18-0 lead after 13 minutes.

Still fighting to pull themselves back into the contest despite giving themselves a large challenge on the scoreboard, Leeds did well to stem the flow of points but struggled to make any opportunities for themselves. Wigan on the other hand looked certain to add points when Oxbury sped away after taking Marchant’s bomb for the corner, but as Dickenson followed up in support, Jack Mears produced a huge defensive stop to bring the counter-attack to an end.

With half time looming, Wigan finally broke back with a fifth try of the game to end the game with 40 minutes still to be played. Clearing their lines after a Leeds attack was halted, a holding down penalty and six again invited the home side forward and after Cody Lyons-Ashworth and Lucas Fetherston carried the ball closer to the line, a shift wide saw Dickenson slot between Alfie Steel and Sonny Hetherington to get the ball down. Maden’s conversion sailed wide to make the half-time score 22-0.

Wigan’s point-scoring antics continued in the second half as Matthew Halton kept the score ticking over. A break through the Evan Buckley caught the Leeds defence napping and Halton remained on his half back’s shoulder to finish the try off.

Lyons-Ashworth thought he had a score for the home side too -  only for referee Matty Clayton to overturn the decision as he judged the Wigan man to be offside before latching onto the grubber kick in the in-goal area. Regardless, the Warriors found a way to keep adding the points as hooker Joe McGann and full back Dickenson combined to break around the Rhinos markers and put Buckley in to score. Maden converted to make the score 34-0 after 50 minutes.

Leeds got their first chance of the new half only for Hetherington to be forced over the sidelines by resolute defence. Off the back of the effort, Wigan’s Lewis Daniels sliced clean through from short range as the scoreline started to blow out at 40-0. Dickenson’s hat trick try proved to be the final straw as Wigan’s man of the match finished a solo effort, despite Theo Roberts valiantly chasing back.

Although the game was over at 44-0, Leeds stuck to their gameplan and managed to find two late tries to make sure they didn’t leave Robin Park scoreless. Hetherington produced a flat pass that put Harvey Butterworth clean through, before the Leeds substitute found an inside pass for Hetherington to score by the posts.

Connor Lawrie was denied by a desperate surge of defence by Wigan, before another half break – this time from Dacx Jones-Buchanan – helped aide another Leeds score. Keeping the ball alive with Irvine and Jons-Buchanan close to the try line, Marchant searched back across the Warriors line before finding a gap to dart through. The half back converted both scores to make the final score 44-12.

Teams

Warriors

1. Samuel Dickenson, 2. Conner Oxbury, 3. Tom Farrimond, 4. Jovi Bentley-Elliott, 5. Zak Bielecki, 6. Alfie Maden, 7. Evan Buckley, 8. Noah Forster, 9. Joe McGann, 10. Lucas Fetherston, 11. Lewis Daniels, 12. Charlie Jeffrey-Stott, 13. Matthew Halton

Subs: 14. Bailey Jones, 15. Harry Mikhail, 16. Cody Lyons-Ashworth, 17. Harrison Pearson (18^th Man – Clayton Mayberry)

Tries: Bielecki (3, 9), Dickenson (6, 37, 64), Oxbury (13), Halton (42), Buckley (49), Daniels (55)

Goals: Maden 4/9

Rhinos

1. Theo Roberts, 2. Lewis Jalal, 3. Sonny Hetherington, 4. Jacob Tooala, 5. Bailey Hardy, 6. Seth Marchant, 7. Kai Irvine, 8. Dacx Jones-Buchanan, 9. Jack Mears, 10. Evan Jones, 11. Alfie Steel, 12. Robin Smith, 13. Brennan Townend

Subs: 14. Noah Lunn, 15. Scott Walker, 16. Connor Lawrie, 17. Harvey Butterworth (18^th Man – Liam Watson)

Tries: Hetherington (68), Marchant (79)