There has been no shortage of unforgettable performances to settle derby matches between Wigan and St Helens in years gone by. And while this was a comprehensive victory for the reigning Super League champions, the clearest indicator yet about the gulf in class between these two famous clubs at present is that, really, St Helens had to be nowhere near faultless to inflict such an embarrassing defeat on their great rivals. Wigan’s inconsistency has haunted them throughout 2021 while the Saints have lost only three games in all competitions as they relentlessly kept up their push for the treble here. But one stat above all else sums up this miserable performance from the Warriors: on the night they received more yellow cards than they scored points. The reception from both sets of supporters at full-time was also significant; while the Saints players celebrated with a packed away end, there were barely any home fans left to hear the final hooter. They, in truth, had seen enough. Humiliated, outplayed and well-beaten by a St Helens side who were good, but certainly not great. But they did more than enough to further strengthen their position inside Super League’s top two, all the while maintaining the pressure on league leaders Catalans ahead of the run-in to the play-offs. Such was Wigan’s impotency in attack, one felt the derby was almost won by half-time. Tries from Regan Grace and Lewis Dodd, the latter following a superb ball steal on Oliver Partington, put the visitors 12-2 ahead at the interval. All Wigan could muster was a penalty from the boot of Harry Smith, while John Bateman was sin-binned following an altercation with James Bentley, who was also shown a yellow card. But while the Saints kept their cool for the rest of the evening, Wigan picked up another two yellow cards. A second one went to Bateman for dissent and Willie Isa, who was walking a disciplinary tightrope all evening, eventually got the sin-binning his aggressive play perhaps merited. “I’m disappointed with their discipline,” Adrian Lam, Wigan’s coach, said. “I love emotion and would promote that within the group but you’ve got to carry some intelligence with that. It came back to hurt us.” Playing half an hour a man light would put any side on the back foot against most teams but especially against the reigning champions. They dominated field position and the ball for most of the second half, eventually getting the try their dominance merited when Mark Percival finished a wonderful flowing move shortly after Isa had been sin-binned. A penalty from Dodd, followed by another from Coote, then underlined the difference between the sides. But there was still time for one more moment to send the away support wild. As Wigan’s supporters were streaming to the exits, Alex Walmsley barged over the top of the tiring Wigan defence to extend the gap even further. It was a symbolic moment which emphasied that, right now, only one half of rugby league’s greatest rivalry looks capable of lifting the prize they all crave at the Grand Final later this year.