O'Loughlin: Going back to classroom will revive Wigan Warriors

Sean O'Loughlin wants to get his hands back on the Super League trophy which Wigan won in 2016

The skipper is preparing to head into his 17th season as a Warriors first-team player.

Having reached Grand Finals every year from 2013 to ‘16, he knows they must restore some pride after a misfiring Super League campaign which saw them finish sixth last season.

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And O’Loughlin is confident days spent pouring over footage, writing reports and having frank discussions will put them firmly back on track. He revealed: “At the end of last season, we did a week of classroom-type stuff – speaking individually, in groups, looking at performances... we analysed a lot.

“It’s the first time I’ve reviewed a season in that depth.

“This time, we had a week solid putting things to bed, so we knew what we were coming into pre-season doing and what we wanted to change.

“I spoke to Waney while I was in Australia for the World Cup, and he and his staff were working hard to make sure we hit the ground running this year.”

Australian prop Gabriel Hamlin and centre Dan Sarginson are the only new faces from the squad which finished last season – with Anthony Gelling and Micky McIlorum departing.

Wane’s hunt for an additional assistant coach didn’t prove fruitful. O’Loughlin, though, doesn’t think they needed an overhaul to reclaim their place among Super League’s front-runners.

“We know we under-performed last year,” said the 35-year-old.

“But we also know we’re a good side, and so we revisited things we’ve done in the past to make improvements.

“For us, there’s been a real determination from within to crack on with what we do.

“Rather than focus on other teams, our focus has been on what we’re good at and get better at it.

“We feel we’ve got a good enough side to be at the top winning trophies, we’ve shown that in the last few years, we just went a bit away from that last season.

“We’ve made a lot of little changes. But it’s been more about revisiting what we’re good at and going back to basics a bit.

“Some of our standards slipped, we’re not reinventing the wheel, we’re not overhauling what we do.”

O’Loughlin will miss the trip to Salford tonight (kick-off 7.30pm) in a non-televised game. They fly to Australia the following day to get ready for a Super League match with Hull FC, in Wollongong, and an exhibition game with Souths the following weekend.