Wigan Warriors boss Matty Peet hails both sides after classic derby win over St Helens

One of his other appearances was winning the Challenge Cup final, but Peet admitted: “Zach didn’t even train there at full-back. Bevan stopped in the last five minutes of our session so credit to him for being confident, poised, his coach and the players around him. It was a big night for him and he rose. He looked very confident and played hard.

“But Harry Robertson was great on his debut for Saints. Had he got the win, he would have been man of the match. It was a remarkable debut. Both teams simply delivered as always. It was such a great game and a brilliant advert for Super League, I knew it could go either way, it was a great game.

It was total pain for the Saints, who slipped to their third straight defeat. Boss Paul Wellens, under pressure after a shock loss to Castleford, has made a huge call by dropping South Sydney scrum-half Lewis Dodd.

He replaced Jack Welsby at half-time and handed teenage defender Robertson his debut. And 18-year-old Robertson was always going to endure a baptism of fire. Wigan’s Harry Smith made sure of that, with the England scrum-half peppering him with all sorts of nasty tackles from the start.

It must have felt like being stuck in a tumble dryer until it came out. But Saints – who had Matty Lees sin-binned after just 58 seconds for a high tackle – held firm and broke away to score the first try in the 20th minute. Daryl Clark sent Curtis Sironen through on the halfway line and, fittingly, Robertson arrived in support before producing a perfectly timed pass for Welsby to finish. Mark Percival converted but Wigan responded instantly as Eckersley slipped Jonny Lomax through and brought on Jake Wardle.

Smith improved to leave it 6-6 at the break. Liam Marshall butchered a chance when Smith sent him flying clear, the wing wandering when he had support. And Saints made him pay in the 57th minute. Sironen bulldozed close and brilliantly squeezed an offload for Jonny Lomax to put over Waqa Blake, Percival improving.

But Saints’ Ben Davies was tackled straight from the restart to give Wigan an immediate chance. They took it. Adam Keighran slid into the right corner for Smith to convert and leave Davies with his head in his hands. Worse was to come when Tyler Dupree pounced on Welsby’s shot – giving Eckersley his big moment.

Wellens insisted: “It was a huge performance.

“They’re disappointed, but we got everything we needed from that group of players tonight. No one will question that. We reconnected with who we are tonight.”