Adrian Lam takes positives from Wigan Warriors' friendly loss to Leeds Rhinos

The sides were level 10-10 before a penalty and two late tries secured the Rhinos victory.

Lam said: "I told the players not to get emotionally caught up with the score. This was our first hit-out, I thought for 30 minutes in the first-half we were outstanding.

"It wasn't about the end-result, it was about giving everyone an opportunity. This is about making sure we've got the right 17 players for the opening round."

Farrell didn't finish the game because of a minor neck injury but was pleased with the occasion and their first half, which they led 10-6 at half-time thanks to tries from Jake Bibby and Willie Isa.

"It's been a strange week, with the build-up, and I was excited to see how the new faces gelled and I thought for 40 minutes we went pretty well," said the forward.

In the second-half, Lam began drip-feeding in players from his 13-man bench and they lost a lot of their strike and cohesion.

The visitors locked the scores, nudged in front with a penalty and then added two tries in the final 10 minutes to claim a deserved win.

The result, though, was immaterial.

For Lam, it was a chance for his players to blow away some of the cobwebs and give his new recruits a chance to get used to their new side.

Jackson Hastings bossed the hosts and linked-up well with Sean O'Loughlin, Thomas Leuluai and Bevan French, who looked exciting at full-back.

Lam added: "The two halves were outstanding, Bevan was exciting at times, I thought Liam Marshall looked good on the wing... there were some strong performances."

He reported no injury concerns and says George Burgess should be fit for the start of the season after nursing a minor hip injury.

Leeds coach Richard Agar said: "Can I just say, I didn't issue the order to kick for goal with 12 minutes to go!

"The result wasn't that important, if we'd lost I wouldn't have been worried, it was about the performance against a strong Wigan team."

He added: "Can I just pay tribute to Liam Farrell, he has been a wonderful servant to the game and to Wigan, he's a player who as an opposing coach you have the highest respect for."

He also praised the "touch of class" from Wigan for warming up in tops emblazoned with Rob Burrow's name and for holding a bucket collection for the Leeds great, who was diagnosed with motor neurone disease before Christmas.

Leeds lost Avagalu Seumanufagai and Bradley Dwyer to injuries but Agar hopes they will be fit for the start of the season.

Wigan head to Leigh on Thursday to complete their pre-season programme before they start the season at home to Warrington on January 30