Wane on '˜crusher' tackle: I'll let the RFL sort it

Shaun Wane is facing the prospect of more injury woe as he waits to see if Oliver Gildart will have to sit out next Thursday's clash with Castleford.
Brett Ferres is sent to the sin binBrett Ferres is sent to the sin bin
Brett Ferres is sent to the sin bin

The centre was making his return from a four-match layoff with a shoulder injury in Friday’s 26-18 loss to Leeds Rhinos but found himself on the wrong end of a ‘crusher’ tackle from Rhinos forward Brett Ferres.

Ferres was sin-binned for the offence a minute before half-time, but Gildart couldn’t carry on after coming back out for the second period.

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“I’ll let the RFL sort it out. He’s not good at all,” Wane said when asked what he thought of the tackle.

“It was his neck, he’s gone and he couldn’t breathe.

Explaining why Gildart started the second half, Wane added: “Under the ruling, if he doesn’t go out he’s done for the game - once your 15 minutes are up - and that includes half-time.”

The genius of George Williams kept Wigan in the contest as the England No.6 danced over the Leeds line for two tries and Liam Marshall sped away in the second half to score.

But Ryan Hall, Joel Moon, Kallum Watkins and Carl Ablett all struck for Leeds, leaving Wane ‘devastated’ as his run without a win at Headlingley since 2012 rumbles on.

And the coach also said he wants to see more from Williams.

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“We need some better stuff of him apart from that, the same with Tommy (Leuluai), the same with Sam Powell. We need to be better.”

“I’m depressed.

“I thought we could have won it. Just dumb, not smart enough.

“They’re a fantastic team. I thought they were the best team on the day, but effort - I’ve got a load of young kids who give everything - but at this level effort’s not enough.

“If we lacked effort then I’m gone but we’ll always come up with good effort.

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“If we’d been a bit smarter at certain points in that game we’d have got it but I don’t want to take anything away from Leeds.”

Wigan host Castleford on Thursday looking to overturn a run of a draw and two losses, and despite not expecting a host of players to return from injury Wane is confident he can plot a win against a side which beat Huddersfield 52-16 last night.

“If we’re smarter then we’ve a chance against Cas,” he said.