The 2011 Wigan Warriors season is the club's 16th season in the Super League, since its launch in 1996.
Michael Maguire carried on as head coach in what would be his last season, and Ian Lenagan continued as the club's chairman and owner. Wigan reverted to using a solo captain in Sean O'Loughlin, having used a "leadership team" during the previous season. The club played at the town's DW Stadium for its 12th consecutive full season.
Wigan entered the season as defending champions, having won the 2010 Super League Grand Final against rivals St Helens R.F.C., and were pre-season favourites to do "The Double" in defending their championship and winning the Challenge Cup. They also had an opportunity as Super League XV winners to contest the 2011 World Club Challenge at the DW Stadium on 27 February, but lost to St George Illawarra Dragons. Their regular season opened against St Helens RLFC on 12 February with a 16–16 draw. Their Challenge Cup campaign started in the fourth round on 8 May with a 52–0 whitewash over the Barrow Raiders. This was then followed up by a 28–22 win over fellow Super League side Bradford Bulls, noted for the late challenge by Bradford's Gareth Raynor, on Sam Tomkins that knocked the Wigan man out cold as he scored Wigan's second try and wins over Warrington Wolves and St Helens R.F.C. to set up a Wembley Stadium showdown with Leeds Rhinos on 27 August 2011. In the final itself, Wigan would run out 28–18 victors to record their 18th success in the competition and lift the trophy for the first time at the new Wembley Stadium.
Background
Ian Lenagan continued on as chairman of the club which achieved a 'B' license under the Rugby Football League's franchise system in 2008. Although Wigan's 2010 Challenge Cup campaign ended in the quarter-finals following a loss to the Leeds Rhinos, the Super League campaign ended with a 22–10 victory over St Helens R.F.C. in the Grand Final at Old Trafford, having already won the League Leader's Shield for finishing on top the Super League table at the close of the regular season. This was the club's second Super League title, their first since Super League III in 1998. By virtue of becoming Super League premiers, the club was automatically entered into the 2011 World Club Challenge to play the Australasian 2010 National Rugby League premiers, the St. George Illawarra Dragons. Michael Maguire entered his second year as head coach, despite speculation he would return to his native Australia, following his debut year in which he brought the club's first major honour since Stuart Raper guided Wigan to success in the 2002 Challenge Cup final. Having used a "leadership team" consisting of Sean O'Loughlin, George Carmont, Thomas Leuluai, Andy Coley, Phil Bailey and Joel Tomkins, the team opted to have O'Loughlin as their sole captain.
The 2011 season was the club's sixteenth in the Super League as an ever-present side in the competition. It was also the twelfth full season playing at the DW Stadium, which the club had shared with football side Wigan Athletic F.C. since 1999. The salary cap that all Super League XVI teams had to abide by remained unchanged from the previous year at GBP£1.65 million, although a slight change was made for the 2011 season to provide more space for a club's own-trained players.
Pre-season
Following the completion of the domestic 2010 seasons in both the Super League and the National Rugby League, the international season began with the 2010 Four Nations, this year held in Australia and New Zealand. Thomas Leuluai was the only British-based player to be named in the New Zealand Kiwis squad for the tournament—Greg Eastwood played for Leeds Rhinos during 2010 and was also announced in the squad, but returned to Canterbury Bulldogs at the end of the season. Sam Tomkins, who was named Rookie of the Year at the Rugby League International Federation awards, was named in the England team along with Darrell Goulding, Sean O'Loughlin and Stuart Fielden. Leuluai featured in a pre-Four Nations test match against Samoa, while Tomkins was influential in England's 18–18 warm-up match against New Zealand Māori, helping to set up a Ryan Atkins try and scoring one of his own. However, no Wigan player managed to score for England in the whole tournament as the national team only managed one win against the minnows, Papua New Guinea. In contrast, Leuluai played in a Kiwis side which made the final, and stole victory from Australia with a Nathan Fien try in the 79th minute at the Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane.
At the start of the pre-season, Wigan immediately lost two players in Josh Veivers and Stuart Howarth from the club's academy, both of whom signed for Wakefield Trinity Wildcats. It was also confirmed that Cameron Phelps would not be offered an extension to his contract, which expired at the end of the 2010 season. However, George Carmont and Karl Pryce were both given a one-year contract for the 2011 season. Michael Maguire refuted speculation that Josh Charnley was to join Harlequins RL on a season-long loan, while Chris Tuson also agreed a contract extension which would keep him at Wigan until the end of the 2012 season with an additional year optional. Academy player Matthew Sarsfield signed a three-year contract with Huddersfield Giants. Pryce and Joe Mellor were confirmed in a one-year loan deal to Harlequins, while both Sam and Joel Tomkins along with Charnley and Liam Farrell were given five-year contract extensions, with Goudling and Harrison Hansen being offered three-year extensions. This completed Wigan's transfer activity during the pre-season, in addition to the signings of Brett Finch, Ryan Hoffman and Jeff Lima made midway through the 2010 season.
Three pre-season friendlies were played as a warm-up to the 2011 campaign. Firstly Wigan faced Salford City Reds at The Willows, where a team largely consistent with the 2010 Grand Final winning side, plus the additions of new arrivals Hoffman and Lima, was ultimately too much for Salford to hold back, with the Reds' head coach Shaun McRae describing Wigan as "the team to beat" for the 2011 season. A young Wigan side then defeated the Barrow Raiders 24–32 at Craven Park in a testimonial match. In a second testimonial, this time for Jon Clarke, the Warriors won their final pre-season friendly against Warrington Wolves. LEGEND
Win
Draw
Loss
Opponent Score Date Salford City Reds 24–30 Away 16 January 2011 Barrow Raiders 24–32 Away 23 January 2011 Warrington Wolves 18–24 Away 2 February 2011
Regular season
February
Wigan's regular season started with a 16–all draw against derby rivals St Helens R.F.C. in front of a 30,891 crowd at the Millennium Stadium—a match in which three Wigan scores, including a debut try for Ryan Hoffman, were cancelled out by three Saints tries late in the second half. Jeff Lima, who also made his debut during the first round robin game of the season, received a two match ban for alleged chicken wing tackles, meaning he missed the World Club Challenge later in the month. However, a 0–26 half-time lead proved too much for Bradford Bulls as the Warriors won their next game comfortably, although Martin Gleeson picked up a hamstring injury. For the World Club Challenge, which was the first match of the 2011 season played at Wigan's DW Stadium, Stuart Fielden had to be withdrawn from the squad on match day due to injury. Gleeson was deemed fit enough to play and therefore started, but had to be withdrawn early against St George Illawarra Dragons because of his hamstring injury, a game which Wigan lost thanks to a Jamie Soward try despite the home side leading by one point at half-time.
In the week preceding the World Club Challenge, the Manchester Evening News alleged that during the pre-season, Gleeson had been the target of blackmail which had included death threats, and that on 13 December 2010 he had contacted the police about the matter. According to the newspaper, three men were arrested in relation to the claims, but Gleeson refused to assist the police further with their investigations and the case collapsed.
March
In their round four match, in which Lima made his return from suspension, a spirited Salford City Reds effort in the first half kept the visiting Wigan side to a six-point lead at half-time, but three-second half tries allowed the Warriors to pull away and put the World Club Challenge defeat behind them. The team maintained their unbeaten start to the league campaign with a late fightback against Hull FC, despite Joel Tomkins being sent off and a last minute penalty to Hull which would have tied the game had it been scored, but Danny Tickle missed with his attempt. The Tomkins brothers, Joel and Sam, both received match bans, two and one respectively, a decision which was upheld by the RFL following an appeal on Joel's ban. Nevertheless, Wigan defeated Huddersfield Giants with a comfortable 6–20 win despite also missing Paul Deacon, Pat Richards and Fielden in addition to the Tomkins. Pre-season signing Brett Finch made a try-scoring debut for the club, and Sam Tomkins returned from suspension to take on Warrington Wolves at the DW Stadium, but the last unbeaten start of Super League XVI fell as Wigan were easily beaten 6–24 by the visiting side.
Gleeson's omission from the squad that faced Salford, despite being injured in the previous match against St George Illawarra, fuelled speculation about his future at the club, rumours which both Michael Maguire and Ian Lenagan remained silent on. The BBC also raised doubts on the future of Richards at the club, after they reported that rugby union side Sale Sharks were interested in signing the 2010 Super League Man of Steel. The BBC also reported that Wigan were hopeful on Gareth Hock, who was banned by anti-doping authorities in 2009 for cocaine use, being allowed to train with the club two months prior to the ban's expiration date in June.
April
A game against Leeds Rhinos in round eight that seemed beyond Wigan's reach at 22–4 behind with Lima sin-binned ended in the Warriors' second draw of the season thanks to three tries late the second half, and an injury-time penalty kicked by Sam Tomkins. Lima was charged and banned for one game for the incident which had him sin-binned. Richards returned for his first appearance since being injured in the 2010 Grand Final, but the club's winless streak stretched to three after being defeated by Catalans Dragons at home. Darrell Goulding was dropped for the team's next game against Hull Kingston Rovers, however the team welcomed back Deacon, Lima and Liam Farrell from injuries and suspensions. Willie Mason scored his first Super League try, but Wigan defeated Hull Kingston Rovers 16–32 at Craven Park, and followed this with another win as a last minute Farrell try stole a victory for Wigan against St Helens in the traditional Good Friday derby. Their second Easter weekend fixture was a whitewash as an unchanged Warriors side beat the Wakefield Trinity Wildcats for a third win in a row.
Following the Leeds game, Gleeson's time at his hometown club came to an end, with the club citing various reasons for the former Great Britain international's departure. A day later, the Rugby Football League cleared Hock to start training with the Warriors again. In the wake of the Catalans loss, speculation in Australia over head coach Maguire's future at the club intensified after Wayne Bennett chose to be the new head coach of Newcastle Knights, leaving an open vacancy at South Sydney Rabbitohs. After the match against Hull Kingston Rovers, Lenagan made an official statement on behalf of the club revealing that Maguire had accepted an offer from South Sydney Rabbitohs, and would be leaving Wigan at the end of the 2011 season, with assistant coach Shaun Wane favourite to replace him.
May