Wakefield were good value for their victory as they consigned Leigh to a second successive Super League defeat, playing Adrian Lam’s side off the park for much of the 80 minutes.
Their first score came as McMeeken and Russell combined, with the former sending the latter through, and they were 12-0 up soon after as Liam Hood sent McMeeken over.
But Leigh did not take Wakefield’s start lying down and they scored their first try after Gareth O’Brien sent Hanley through to touch down courtesy of a sumptuous free-flowing pass through the Trinity defence.
The hosts kept up the pressure and found a second at the end of another impressive move with Brand crashing over.
O’Brien thought he had crossed over with a rapid twist and turn right on the line but video referee Chris Kendall judged that he had knocked on moments before Josh Griffin had managed to scoop the ball out of his possession.
That was where any Leigh threat appeared to end, and the hosts were punished just before the half-time hooter when McMeeken touched down having prospered in the midst of a scramble from both sides for the ball from a high kick.
Johnstone showed searing pace to run in from deep inside his own half as he successfully intercepted the ball, and Hood displayed incredible strength to touch down to give Trinity what felt like an unassailable 20-point lead.
Halton helped bridge the gap with an impressive dash to the corner, but Leigh’s fightback was quelled as O’Brien missed the extras and Johnstone galloped in for another audacious score from deep in his own half having done well to avoid knocking the ball on in the build-up.
Russell’s second try, which came as he ran in unopposed in-goal, was emblematic of the contrasts in confidence between the two sides, and it wrapped up a supreme win for Daryl Powell’s side before the two sides meet again next week in the Challenge Cup at Belle Vue.
For Lam and his Leigh side, there will be much to consider ahead of that quarter-final tie, as they have conceded 70 points in their past two games, having been on the receiving end of a 30-0 drubbing at Hull KR last time out.
