Legendary boxing announcer Michael Buffer emcees Super League opener.. and witnesses historic, never-before-seen result
GARETH O’BRIEN was Leigh’s golden boy after Super League’s big build up was left literally pointless.
Not even Michael Buffer could make either side ready to rumble as they amazingly battled out a scoreless 80 minutes.
https://twitter.com/SkySportsRL/status/1890161289390874821The legendary announcer – who was there as part of the deal that sees Wigan play Warrington in Las Vegas on March 1 – reeled out his familiar phrase as battle began once again.
But it was more like grumbles in the crowd as the sides largely cancelled each other out in a defensive slugfest.
This was the first pointless 80 minutes in the competition’s history.
But after two minutes 20 seconds of golden point extra time, O’Brien stroked over the winner to hand Leigh their first win at Wigan in 42 years.
Jake Wardle and Luke Thompson went close as Wigan started well – Leigh were clinging on yet only Wardle’s positioning stopped the Leopards pouncing on a break.
Buffer may be used to knockout blows but after the big build-up, this ended up more like a game of chess or a staring contest.
Super League saw more history 28 seconds into the second half as Wigan’s Liam Farrell made the competition’s first ever Captain’s Challenge – typically, he lost.
The longer the game dragged on scoreless, Wigan’s frustration grew and skipper Farrell was sin binned for kicking the ball away.
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Jai Field skipped through challenges but his try was ruled out by video ref Jack Smith for Liam Marshall stripping the ball from Edwin Ipape.
It ended up a farce as the sides waited as the stadium clock would not work but O’Brien made the difference in extra-time.