Leeds Rhinos Wheelchair lost out in the Betfred Wheelchair Super League Grand Final on Sunday after a close battle with Wigan Warriors.
Leeds took the lead for the first time in the contest in the 70th minute when England star Nathan Collins scored the fourth try of a superb individual performance, and England captain Tom Halliwell converted from wide out.
But Roberts ensured that Wigan were behind for less than four minutes as he laid on Jack Heggie’s third try of the match with a delicate kick, and then converted himself to re-establish a 44-42 lead.
Two minutes later, Heggie turned provider to lay on a second try for the Wales international Martin Lane, and Roberts landed his seventh goal to establish a match-winning eight-point cushion.
Heggie had opened the scoring in the fifth minute and Wigan retained that advantage throughout the first half. Lane scored one try and laid on a score for Martin Wooloff with a bullet of an inside pass from the right wing, and Roberts scored their last two tries of the first half – the second bringing down the goalposts in one of the spectacular moments that are a feature of Wheelchair Rugby League.
But Leeds stayed within touching distance as their captain Jodie Boyd-Ward scored two tries in the right corner, and Collins scored his first two, one of them from his own chip ahead – although unusually, he was unable to convert any of the tries, meaning Wigan led 28-16.
They went further ahead when Adam Rigby scored the first try of the second half, but Halliwell led the Leeds response by scoring one try and combining with Collins to set up another for Nathan Mulhall, with Collins landing his first two goals.
In the end, it was eight points that separated the two teams, leading Wigan to their second Grand Final win in consecutive days as their Wheelchair team were crowned Super League champions for the first time in their short history.
Full Time Score
Leeds Rhinos 42 – 50 Wigan Warriors
We caught up with Head Coach, James Simpson, after the game, who despite yesterday’s result, has learnt a lot from his first full year as coach since his retirement from the game, and is proud of his team for making every final and coming away with the League Leaders shield for the fourth year running.