TagFest Wigan 2025 Review

The North’s first TagFest of the year kicked off in style on Saturday 14th June at Wigan St Cuthbert’s ARLFC. Once again, the day was packed with exciting action, great entertainment, and plenty of fun from start to finish.

The weather held up nicely barring a shower in the morning, providing ideal conditions for a full day of Tag Rugby. Teams from Manchester, Thames Valley, and Wigan took part, giving players the chance to face new opposition.

The morning featured pool matches, before teams split into Cup, Plate, and 9th–11th Round Robin competitions in the afternoon. Notably, after three consecutive years of West Yorkshire teams taking the title, none participated this year, creating a great opportunity for another region to claim the trophy!

Cup
Unleash The Animal went undefeated in Pool A and were joined in the Cup by Stop Trying Your Heart Out, who finished second. From Pool B, Buzzkillers and Wigan Kebabs also progressed to the Cup stage. In a rematch of their earlier encounter, Unleash The Animal and Stop Trying Your Heart Out faced off in the final, with Unleash The Animal emerging victorious.

Plate
Wingin’ It and Tryannosaurus Rexs, who finished 3rd and 4th in Pool A, qualified for the Plate competition. They were joined by Pork Catchings, who narrowly missed out on Cup qualification on points difference, and Poultry in Motion from Pool B. In the final, Poultry in Motion delivered a commanding 5–1 win over Pork Catchings to take home the Plate title.

9th–11th Round Robin
The 9th–11th place Round Robin featured JOE EXO-TAG TIGER KING, RFL All Stars, and The Didsbury Dozen. It was the RFL All Stars who claimed top spot, securing two convincing wins 6–2 and 6–3 over their opponents.
Final standings and award winners can be found at the bottom of this article.

Fancy Dress
This year’s fancy dress theme was “Animals”, and once again, the creativity on display did not disappoint. The standout winners were the Manchester-based all-female team, The Didsbury Dozen, whose outfits were inspired by rapper Pitbull. They collected their prize with themed outfits, dancing, and his music playing as they collected their prize during the presentation.

Tug of War Showdown
In the lunchtime Tug of War, four players went head-to-head with the event staff in a best-of-three contest. The match-up didn’t disappoint, with an epic effort from all involved! The winners were Stop Trying your Heart Out with a resounding 2-0 win.

Referees
It’s often said that “without referees, there is no game”, and that rang true once again. A huge thank you goes out to our referees for their fantastic contributions throughout the day. This year’s “Referee of the Day” award went to Leon Nightingale from West Yorkshire, who stood out for his professionalism and enthusiasm.

Event Photos
Check out our photos of the day’s action, teams and winners.

Thank You
A heartfelt thank you to all the players, referees, staff, and event partners who made TagFest Wigan 2024 such a memorable day. A special shout-out to Wigan St Cuthbert’s ARLFC for being such brilliant hosts once again.

We hope everyone had a fantastic time and we look forward to welcoming you back in 2026!

Special Thanks To

• Venue: Wigan St Cuthbert’s ARLFC
• Photographers: Iain Cash & Sam Davies
• First Aid: David Hall Medical
• After Party Venue: Feast at the Mills
• Portaloo Supplier: Lancashire Portable Toilets Ltd

FINAL STANDINGS

Cup
1 Unleash the Animal
2 Stop Trying Your Heart Out
3 Wigan Kebabs
4 Buzzkillers

Plate
1 Poultry in Motion
2 Pork Catchings
3 Wingin’ It
4 Tryannosaurus Rexs

9th-11th Round Robin
RFL All Stars
JOE EXO-TAG TIGER KING
The Didsbury Dozen