Brian McDermott accused his Leeds Rhinos players of being “dopey in defence” as Wigan Warriors inflicted a seventh straight defeat on the Super League champions.

Liam Marshall guaranteed himself the headlines with a hat-trick before further tries from Josh Woods, Liam Farrell, Thomas Leuluai and Tom Davies ensured a night to forget for the West Yorkshire giants.

Sam Tomkins also moved past 1,000 career points as he kicked nine goals to secure the Warriors a first win at the DW Stadium for two months.

A 46-8 defeat leaves Leeds seventh in the table – only one point ahead of fourth-from-bottom Catalans Dragons – and the prospect of a battle to retain their top-flight status in the Qualifiers is becoming a worry for a “concerned” McDermott.

He told reporters: “We conceded too many soft tries, it was too easy for Wigan.

We were dopey in defence. I’m concerned that we’ve lost seven on the bounce and we can’t keep doing that.”

“That team we fielded was certainly good enough to compete with and beat Wigan, but the most disappointing thing is how much it wasn’t a contest. The scoreline hurts.”

Leeds Rhinos are currently priced 21.00 in the Super League 2018 Grand Final winner outright betting, with table-toppers St Helens trading the 2.10 favourites.