Wane: We're a club that has to win

The Warriors are seeking to end a run of eight league matches without victory when Widnes arrive at the DW Stadium this Sunday.

Having dropped to eighth in the ladder – they have only a fragile three-point margin on a bottom-four spot – Wane is demanding victory in their remaining four games before the Super-8s begin.

While a raft of injuries provided some mitigation for their poor results, Wane said: “We’ve won a World Club, and hopefully we can get to Wembley and kick-on and have a great season.

“But I’m not going to convince you that I’m happy. I’m not. We’re not. As a club, I don’t like losing games, and it’s something which needs to change pretty quickly. We’re not winning games, and we’re a club that has to win.

“We can all talk about circumstances that have been well-documented, but the fact is we’re losing and drawing games, and we don’t like it.”

His direct demands for victory signify a slight shift in mind-set, having previously put a focus on performance, rather than results, and said he paid little attention to the table.

“Now I want both,” he said. “I want performances and I want to win. It’s professional sport and I don’t like where we’re sitting at the minute.

“Last year we weren’t playing well but we ground games out, but this year we’re not getting the results.

“So we need to start getting the two points on the board.

“We only got a draw against Huddersfield, and we’re not kidding ourselves, we need to get wins.”

Wane says some frank discussions between the players and staff have highlighted areas they need to improve from their last match, a 19-19 draw at Huddersfield.

“The players definitely don’t like it, the meetings are ugly, we’re talking harshly, because we’re a winning club,” he added.

“It’s not external pressure, these are internal pressures we put on ourselves. We have standards here and we’ve dipped below them - we shouldn’t be going 13-0 down at Huddersfield in a big game.”

Kiwi centre Anthony Gelling may return and prop Tony Clubb is on course to play his first match since having a kidney removed. But Taulima Tautai (calf) is out for another week and Joel Tomkins (groin) is facing a fortnight on the sidelines.