Ollie Partington shares Wigan Warriors fans' frustrations

The prop was weaned on following the Warriors and, even though he now plays for the side, he’s not forgotten how tough it can be when the team you cheer for is not performing to their best.

Adrian Lam’s side have locked-up fourth spot this term, guaranteeing them a home game in the opening round of the play-offs – which is far from a disaster given the adversity they have faced.

But a persistently poor attack and a failure to beat any of the top-three this season has been disappointing for many fans.

And Partington said: “Being a Wigan fan myself, I know how they feel. I’ve been in those situations as a fan when the team isn’t winning and it’s not nice.

“It’s hard, we all have social media, we all see it, we all read it – even though we don’t want to.

“It’s part of the experience and this is sport, people will have their opinions.

“But I know how they feel, I’m a Wigan fan so I know where they’re coming from.”

He added: “It’s been a massive learning year for me.

“We lost a few on the bounce and seeing how the fans reacted, how the coaches reacted, I had to take some responsibility for some of those losses because I am a starter now, which I didn’t have in the past.

“We’ve been under the pump from everyone, but the camp is buzzing at the minute. We still think we can win it.”

Wigan conclude their regular season at home to Catalans on Friday before the play-offs begin six days later knowing they are three wins away from being crowned Super League champions.

And for Partington, now in his fourth season in the first-team, he is desperate to taste success.

“It’s on everyone’s minds, we just want to win it,” said the 23-year-old.

“We don’t care how we do it, we just want to.

“We’re fourth but you can’t write us off, I think we’ll be up there fighting for it at the end."