Wane: Why we won't have any arrogance against Swinton

Shaun Wane says Wigan's long list of absentees will prevent any 'arrogance' from seeping into his players' heads when they take on Swinton.
Shaun Wane has spent hours with Swinton coach John DuffyShaun Wane has spent hours with Swinton coach John Duffy
Shaun Wane has spent hours with Swinton coach John Duffy

Victory at Sale’s Heywood Road ground would land the 2013 winners a place in the quarter-finals.

But Wane is refusing to look beyond their Championship opponents, who knocked Super League outfit Huddersfield out in the previous round.

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And he believes that result - coupled with their own problems - will ensure they travel with the right mindset.

He said: “It would have been more of a risk if we were at full-strength, and having that arrogance of not needing to work as hard.

“But at the moment we’re under the pump and we’ll go there with a desperate attitude.

“We won’t go into the game in an arrogant way. It’s 80 minutes, they’ll turn up and want to put us under pressure, and we need to be confident and do what we concentrate on - and not be dragged into anything else.”

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Wigan – missing several frontline stars – have beaten all lower-league opposition in the Cup under Wane’s watch, and this tie has the interesting twist of the two clubs being dual-registration partners.

Warriors allow some of their fringe players to turn out for the Lions, and for that reason, Wane has watched every game this year.

He has even invited coach John Duffy into the Warriors’ inner sanctum to share their philosophies and practises.

“John has spent a lot of time with me and my coaching staff,” said Wane.

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“We’ve had hours together talking, he’s picked my brains on things - I wish I’d kept my mouth shut now!

“But he’s a smart coach, I know him very well, and he has them playing a good style, they’re structured like a Super League team and they play a lot.

“Their games get sent to me and I’ve watched all of them this year, because we’ve had players there.

“We also had some time off last weekend, so I watched their last three games... which annoyed my missus!”

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Swinton have a clutch of ex-Wigan juniors in their ranks including Rhodri Lloyd, Luke Waterworth and Jack Murphy, who Wane handed Super League debuts to before letting them move on.

“It was tough because they’re all good lads, and they all can play,” said Wane. “But the circumstances at the time meant they weren’t going to play much and I had to make the right decision for them and for us.

“I know a lot of their players and they can play, no question, they showed that against Huddersfield in the last round.

“We need to be on the ball. I’ll find out a fair bit about my players.”

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Wigan have lost their last two games, to Castleford and Salford. Wane was “okay” after the 31-16 defeat by the Red Devils, but he has reflected on it with a different tone.

“The more I watched it, the more disappointed I became,” he said.

Today’s game kicks-off at 3pm, and the quarter-final draw takes place shortly after full-time.