Wednesday 31 July 2019 07:23, UK
Ahead of this week's Super League fixtures live on Sky Sports, rugby league researcher Ian Proctor looks at some previous meetings between the sides and picks out some memorable moments.
Shaun Wane's side ran up a club-record away win at Hull when 26-point Pat Richards led the way in their 56-12 slaughter of a young, inexperienced home line-up at KCOM Stadium.
Wigan almost kept pace with the clock in racking up a 40-0 lead after 52 minutes. Other highlights for the visitors saw Richards complete his try hat-trick within two minutes of the start of the second half, Josh Charnley score twice and the outstanding Sam Tomkins grab one in the Warriors' 10-try spree.
With rookie halves Danny Nicklas and Jamie Ellis finding life difficult against the vastly-experienced Brett Finch and Thomas Leuluai, plus Ben Crooks enduring a baptism of fire on his Super League debut at centre, Hull's belated response was a couple of tries from Ellis and Will Sharp mid-way through the second half.
Following on from the 31-30 win at Bradford Bulls a week earlier, memorably erasing a 30-6 deficit, Wigan continued their winning ways in the play-offs to end Hull's dream of a second-successive Grand Final appearance at Old Trafford.
Once again, Wigan had to claw their way back into contention - having trailed 14-8 - and Brian Noble's side was forced to display true character in withstanding Hull's assault on their line after Gareth Raynor's try gave the home side renewed belief.
Pat Richards opened the scoring with his second-minute try, and went on to land four goals and a drop-goal to go with tries from Gareth Hock and Liam Colbon.
Raynor's second try followed the 100th touchdown of Richard Horne's career and set up a frenetic finale, but home fans in the 16,291 crowd were frustrated at not taking advantage of Shane Millard's 59th minute sin-binning following his late tackle on Mathew Head.
Seven goals from Matt Crowther and two tries from an inspired Richard Horne, including a last-minute effort, enabled Hull to end Wigan's 13-match winning sequence in the final Boulevard meeting between the two clubs.
The 26-18 defeat cost Wigan any hope of finishing as league leaders and Hull owed victory to Gareth Raynor's amazing tackle on Wigan half-back Adrian Lam when the Papua New Guinea international appeared a certain try-scorer.
Wigan led 12-10 at the interval after tries from Julian O'Neill and Andy Farrell, while ex-Warriors half-back Tony Smith scored a try for the hosts.
Horne's two second-half tries cancelled out one from former Hull winger Brian Carney, while Jamie Ainscough and Garreth Carvell were sin-binned by referee Karl Kirkpatrick in separate incidents.
There has never been a finale to a season quite like the one conjured by Leeds Rhinos in 2015.
The League Leaders' Shield was in a helicopter on its way to Wigan when the genius of Danny McGuire opened the Giants defence and enabled Ryan Hall to score the last-play try which secured the 20-16 victory to complete the second leg of the Rhinos' treble trophy triumph.
Leeds trailed 16-8 with seven minutes remaining when Tom Briscoe scored out wide and Kevin Sinfield hoisted the touchline conversion before adding a penalty goal to level the scores. But a draw would not be enough to deny Wigan, who were simultaneously hammering Castleford Tigers, 47-12.
With less than one minute remaining, Huddersfield kicked off deep and Leeds were still inside their own half when McGuire's deft kick down the left flank evaded Scott Grix and was collected by the rampaging Hall, whose 200th try for the club sealed an incredible win and completed Leeds' third table-topping campaign of the summer era.
A brilliant try hat-trick from Zak Hardaker kept fifth-placed Leeds on course for their fifth Old Trafford visit in six years. They scored six tries to five and had too many aces for a Giants team which finished above them (fourth) in the Super League table.
It was an incredible contest in which Leeds took an early 16-0 advantage, had the lead cut to 16-12, then led 34-12 - only to find themselves hanging on for victory at 34-28 after the Giants had scored three tries in a five-minute purple patch.
Scott Grix and David Fa'alogo each scored two tries for the Giants, but they were in vain having been eclipsed by outstanding Rhinos centre Hardaker and two-try full-back Brent Webb.
It was a momentous afternoon at the McAlpine Stadium as the Giants completed their first win over Leeds in 38 years when Brandon Costin's 79th-minute touchdown sealed the long-awaited 30-24 win.
Tony Smith's men were worthy winners in a magnificent contest that ended the club's sequence of 10 straight Super League defeats against the Rhinos since promotion in 1998.
And it was a stirring Huddersfield performance that drew the Rhinos to the coaching expertise of Smith. His appointment as Leeds coach for the following season would be announced in a matter of weeks.
Stanley Gene's first minute try set the tone and he followed with another to establish a 16-6 interval lead for Huddersfield. Costin also scored two tries while Steve McNamara was flawless with the boot landing five from five on in a heated contest that saw Ben Roarty, David Furner and Matt Diskin receiving yellow cards from referee Russell Smith.
The only Super League play-off meeting between Catalans Dragons and Warrington took place at Stade Gilbert Brutus, 11 years ago, and it was a momentous occasion for over 8,000 home fans.
The Dragons' maiden play-off appearance resulted in the 46-8 victory in which unsung winger Justin Murphy scored a play-off record four tries - also a new club record that has been equalled but remains unsurpassed.
Both teams entered the play-offs in wretched form - Catalans having won one game in six and the Wolves having lost their previous four - but Thomas Bosc was in magnificent form, scoring a try and five goals as well as producing three assists to ensure the Dragons would host Wigan at the next stage.
