Tommy gunning for Rhinos
Darrell Goulding and Thomas Leuluai celebrate as Wigan Warriors beat Bradford Bulls
THOMAS Leuluai insists Wigan’s table-topping exploits in Super League will count for nothing when the play-offs begin this weekend.
This Sunday’s clash against champions Leeds will represent a stern examination of the Warriors’ title credentials.
Although Michael Maguire’s troops lost just five of their 27 Super League games this season, the stakes will be risen this weekend as they aim to book a place in the semi-finals two weeks later.
Fans’ expectations and the media glare will ratchet up the intensity levels even higher, and Leuluai warned they must handle the pressure if they are to take the direct route to the last four. He said: “The play-offs are a new competition. It doesn’t matter what we’ve done before, it doesn’t matter that we finished top – it’s all about getting up on these big games.
“We’ve gone in to play-offs in the past as underdogs and I’ve never been in this position of people talking about us.
“It’s going to be a massive game and when you get matches like this, some teams buckle under the pressure, others rise to the occasion.
“We know which we’ve got to do. It was great to finish top – but we want the main prize.” Leuluai – this week named in the Kiwis’ provisional squad for the end-of-season Four Nations tournament – concedes Wigan weren’t at their best in their last match, the 34-12 victory over Bradford, and says they have been working overtime in training to try and polish up on their form.
“We always felt in control against Bradford but we made it really hard for ourselves, giving away penalties and pushing passes,” he said. “But we had the effort which was the main thing.”
Wigan recorded a Super League double over Leeds this year, but lost their Challenge Cup quarter-final showdown.
The losers of Sunday’s televised blockbuster (kick-off 6.45pm) will get a second chance to qualify for the semi-finals the following week.
Maguire will tomorrow name his provisional squad for the game and may include Harrison Hansen in his 19-man panel after the forward made a remarkable recovery from a shoulder injury that threatened to end his season.
Maguire confirmed: “Harrison could be back in the frame this weekend, which is a fair turnaround from where we thought he was a couple of weeks ago.”
The only players from Wigan’s first-team squad who are unavailable, all through injury, are Lee Mossop, Eamon O’Carroll and Phil Bailey. Frenchman Thierry Alibert will take charge of Sunday’s match.
Meanwhile, Stuart Fielden has revealed he knocked back an offer from Australian outfit North Queensland to sign a new two-year deal at Wigan.
“It was one of the hardest decisions of my life to reject the Cowboys because it represented my last chance to play in the NRL, and I had a few chats with their coach Neil Henry,” Fielden, 31, told the Daily Express.
“But my wife and I are expecting our first child soon and I’m very happy at Wigan. The Cowboys offer probably came at the wrong time.”
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Weather for Wigan
Friday 10 February 2012
Today
Light snow
Temperature: -6 C to 2 C
Wind Speed: 17 mph
Wind direction: South east
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: -1 C to 2 C
Wind Speed: 6 mph
Wind direction: South
