BEVAN French put his instinctive style down to his childhood days trying to avoid getting tackled on rough country surfaces after again starring in a victory for Wigan Warriors.
The 29-year-old was named player of the match as the reigning Betfred Super League champions moved top of the table with three matches of Round 11 remaining following a 36-28 victory at home to near neighbours Leigh Leopards in the ‘Battle of the Borough’.
Tries from Jake Wardle, Kruise Leeming, Zach Eckersley, Kaide Ellis, Liam Marshall, Junior Nsemba and Adam Keighran helped Wigan on their way to victory, with French pulling the strings at scrum-half and coming up with some trademark moments of magic honed in the New South Wales town of Inverell.
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Keighran is right where he needs to be to receive that unbelievable pass from French! 🙌#SuperLeague pic.twitter.com/eXztC8Cv8G
— Betfred Super League (@SuperLeague) May 16, 2025
“I think it’s just the way I grew up playing rugby league out in the middle of nowhere,” French told Sky Sports.
“There wasn’t any grass or bitumen on the dirt road, so I didn’t want to get tackled.
“It’s probably comes from there, it’s just that free-flowing entertaining rugby league and it definitely helped me get to where I am today, that’s for sure.”
Ethan O’Neill’s double and one try apiece for Owen Trout, Joe Ofahengaue and Tesi Niu kept Leigh in the hunt, but ultimately they were not able to overcome their rivals on this occasion after edging the Super League season opener at The Brick Community Stadium 1-0 back in February.
Leopards head coach Adrian Lam was the man who brought French to Wigan in the first place back in July 2019, and even though he is now on the opposing side of the divide, the former Papua New Guinea international could not help but marvel at his display.
“Imagine if he was in our team,” Lam told Sky Sports.
“He just cruises and then flicks a switch, and it all happens for him – how do you plan to defend that sort of stuff?
“It’s just individual brilliance at different times of the game, and that was the difference.”
French was quick to credit his team-mates following the win, hailing the trust in each other which has been formed thanks to the consistency in the make-up of the squad over recent seasons.
Wigan head coach Matt Peet has perhaps run out of superlatives to describe the Australian’s displays, yet he was in no doubt French was the difference on what was, at times, far from a classic Warriors performance.
“He’s a special talent, we’re fortunate to work with him, and that’s the difference on nights where you’re not at your best,” Peet told Sky Sports.
“You’ve got to rely on flashes of brilliance, which some of our players have, and we want to be better so we’re not relying on that.
“But tonight, we were lucky we had him.”