Hull FC 4 Wigan Warriors 36: Five things we learned

1. Adrian Lam deflected praise for this victory onto his players, saying he had put the onus on them to produce the goods when it mattered.

And didn't they do just that.

They started like a whirlwind and rarely relented, hitting their opponents with five tries before half-time to take a 26-0 lead.

They were brilliant, brutal and at times breathtaking, and this was arguably their best performance of the year.

Bevan French and Liam Farrell both finished with doubles but there were stand-outs across the line-up as they booked themselves a semi-final showdown with Leeds.

2. No Flower, no Clubb, no Burgess, no Bullock.

No worries.

Because young front-rowers Oli Partington and Ethan Havard - still a teenager - underlined their immense promise with mature, aggressive performances in the middle.

With fellow academy-graduate Joe Shorrocks also putting in a strong shift at the coalface - along with Kiwi Mitch Clark, the other prop in the squad - they established the platform.

3. From young forwards to a man at the other end of the spectrum. Sean O'Loughlin.

"He was outstanding, he gives us a completely different attacking style and he does it better than anyone in the world, I believe," said Lam.

As the Australia assistant coach, he's in a pretty good position to comment.

O'Loughlin's ability to choose subtle passes, run the ball or fire out homing-missile passes lift the side to another level. And what made this display even more impressive was it was his first outing in six months.

4. Players aren't allowed to hug their team-mates when they score, so they are having to find inventive ways to celebrate instead.

Step forward Oliver Gildart, who mimicked a referee when he touched down - pointing to the spot and blowing a whistle.

We've some way to go until celebrations scale the heights of Henderson 'And he does a bit of a boogie' Gill or the Offiah/Edwards set-pieces.

But Gildart, we salute you! Let's hope more players follow suit.

5. Hull were not at the races. They were sloppy with the ball, slack in defence. In mitigation, they were playing their third game in nine days, and it showed.

They never matched their opponents for energy and while they displayed their character in the second-half, the damage had been done.

Other sides will face similar fatigue issues as the fixtures pile-up over the coming weeks. Wigan's semi-final, for example, comes just three days after they take on St Helens for the first time this year.