Personally, Good Friday as a Warrior has to start with my first experience in 2011 when Liam Farrell crossed in the final minute to turn what should have been defeat into sheer victory and it was that day that I truly knew how it felt be a 'True Warrior'.
This year will be my first Good Friday away from the DW stadium and 11th derby overall but the excitement of being among 1500+ roaring fans in the East Terrace is hard to contain, so much so that I am grinning from ear to ear just thinking about it.
The build-up to Friday's meeting is spicier this year due to the fact that St Helens have a 100% winning record in their nine games so far and the chance to ruin that record and claim the traditional bragging rights has fired up the Wigan fans to great effect.
After years of seeing St Helens at the top while Wigan looked on from the fringes of the top four and the near disaster of 2006, the turnaround in 2010 seemed like fate to me from the second I booked a Grand Final trip in the March praying Wigan would get there and fate delivered spectacularly.
My first game of the Super League era was one I will never forget as Wigan triumphed 22-10 over St Helens in front of a crowd of 71,000, it was those stunning 80 minutes that inspired me to begin a run that currently stands at 58 consecutive Wigan home games and 70 overall since that glorious evening in October.
St Helens v Wigan is biggest derby of all in Super League in my view, though some people up in Hull may disagree as the topic of the truly biggest derby is a hot issue among fans but the fierce rivalry I have experienced as a spectator in my 11 derbies is something so intense that it is hard to simply put into words.
Last year's Good Friday meeting saw Wigan win 28-16 to extend their run to four Easter victories in a row including the last meeting at Knowsley Road and the first at Langtree Park something that Saints fans are consistently reminded of and a piece of history that will stick in the minds of the Warriors forever.
A fifth successive Good Friday win would surely rank up with the two standout wins above as to end such a stunning record of nine wins in a row would be an amazing feat and could continue a trend that has run for a total of eight Super League titles.
I Come back to the simple fact. 8 Wigan & Saints Super League titles. The title winning sides ALL won the Easter Derby. Massive Game!
— Bilko CherryandWhite (@wiganrlfans) April 10, 2014
Another incentive then that should there be a winner on Friday, they would be the favourites of the two to go on to become the 2014 Super League Champions which in Wigan's sense would be the retaining of their stunning 2013 title.As the Easter rounds pack three games in the space of a week, the 19's for both sides were likely to have notable absentees but the surprise comes when Wigan have only one in the form of the sidelined Josh Charnley while St Helens have four with the trio of Willie Manu, Kyle Amor and Anthony Laffranchi sidelined while rising star Adam Swift is left out of the squad for reasons currently unknown.
A number of factors could decide the game with a key issue being goal-kicking, Luke Walsh (31 - most in SL) and Matty Smith (18) have had contrasting success from the boot so far with more than capable backups in Tommy Makinson (3) and George Williams (4) available for Friday if need be.
Goal-kicking is mainly reliant on try scoring and St Helens have the top scorer in 2014 in Tommy Makinson (9) who has sailed to the top of the standings thanks to his unique diving technique in grounding the ball so will be the 'one to watch' for the Wigan defence who will be glad at the absence of Adam Swift (5) who was superb in last year's meetings.
The mixed form of the highly rated Josh Charnley (2) and Joe Burgess (3) have seen two surprise stars for Wigan in terms of try-scoring with Iain Thornley (7) and Matty Bowen (5) both in red hot form with the latter an expert of the full length try (Catalan/London), something St Helens will need to be very wary of on what could be a scorching Friday afternoon.
St Helens - Jonny Lomax, Tommy Makinson, Jordan Turner, Josh Jones, Lance Hohaia, Luke Walsh, Mose Masoe, James Roby, Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Sia Soliola, Jon Wilkin, Mark Flanagan, Paul Wellens, Alex Walmsley, Joe Greenwood, Anthony Walker, Matty Dawson, Greg Richards, Luke Thompson.
Wigan - 25 John Bateman, 1 Matty Bowen, 32 Joe Burgess, 24 Tony Clubb, 16 Gil Dudson, 12 Liam Farrell, 10 Ben Flower, 3 Darrell Goulding, 6 Blake Green, 14 Jack Hughes, 28 Jordan James, 9 Michael McIlorum, 13 Sean O'Loughlin, 22 Eddy Pettybourne, 23 Dan Sarginson, 7 Matty Smith, 8 Scott Taylor, 4 Iain Thornley, 27 George Williams.
As indicated in the full round preview, I have predicted a close game with the outcome- St Helens 18 Wigan 24.
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