Shaun Wane hopes Wigan Warriors will benefit from positive Easter attitude

Wane has a proud record of his matches over the Easter weekend, winning 11 of his 12 games in charge of Good Friday and Easter Monday games.

But the Warriors boss treats this period as a four-game block, encompassing the match before and after – and the visit of Huddersfield tonight in the first of four games over the next two weeks.

Wane has won 20 of 24 matches over this period in the last six years.

And while others may grumble at the short turnarounds, the Wigan coach relishes the test this stage of the season provides.

He said: “We’re proud of record, over the four games it is probably better than anyone, and that’s down to the application of the players and the hard work of the staff.

“It’s not just about the two games at Easter, we’ve already spoken to the players, and it starts now.

“We take it as four games, finishing with Catalans away – everything is in place in terms of protocols, supplements, rest periods, recoveries, and Mark Bitcon (head of performance) should take the praise for how we manage it.

“Our attitude to this period seems to be different to everyone else’s and we see the benefit of a positive attitude.” Wigan’s game at Castleford was postponed because of the bad weather, giving Wane extra time to prepare for this encounter.

He has called on his players to put Huddersfield “in a bad place” from the start as they eye their fifth win from six games, ahead of the mouth-watering Good Friday derby.

Huddersfield have lost four of their opening six matches but Wane added: “I don’t think we’ve seen the best of them yet. They have so many strong ball-carriers and so many quality individuals and they can play, they’re a quality team.”