Wolves were too good for us, says Wane

The Wolves completed a league double over the Warriors to move two points clear at the top of the table.

Wane didn’t attempt to blame the seven-tries-to-two loss on their injury woes.

He said: “They were too good for us.

“They’re a very good team, they have a lot of top-end players fit, and I thought for 25 minutes we challenged them.

“But we lost some field position, couldn’t get out of our own end, and you can’t do that with a team like Warrington.

“Matty Smith was kicking on the back foot regularly.

“I don’t want to make excuses, Warrington were the better team.”

George Williams made a successful return from injury but five other England internationals were still absent, as well as Ben Flower, Dom Crosby and Dom Manfredi.

“I’m happy with where we’re at, we’ve got some players to come back so we’ll be okay,” said Wane, who was in charge for his 150th game.

“I thought we showed some toughness as a team, we kept trying.

“We were just out-played by a team who are red-hot.”

Josh Charnley opened the scoring for Wigan but Warrington had scored three tries before half-time, when they led 18-4.

“I thought it took us 15 minutes and we turned the volume up,” said Wolves coach Tony Smith.

“It was nip and tuck there and our defence kicked into gear and we started getting physical.

“At one stage in the first half we kept them kicking inside their own 30-metres three times in a row - that takes some doing.

“We built our game on the defence and got some rewards.”

Smith finished his post-match press confernce by adding, without prompting: “Most of our starting players have been on the park, I’ve got to say Wigan are down some crucial players - some big players.

“What we did tonight, is what we should do. They’re doing it tough.”

The Warriors are next in action a week on Sunday, when they travel to Dewsbury in the Challenge Cup. Their next Super League match is the following Friday against Hull FC - a game which may mark the return of Sam Tomkins.