Wigan Warriors fans reflect on the victory over Wakefield Trinity and look ahead to the game against Castleford Tigers

Darren Wrudd

What a reaction!

I can only imagine how the players felt after the poor display at Hull KR and to come back with that attitude was simply perfect.

To put 60 points on in professional rugby league is a feat in itself but the commitment to defending our line was akin to the Shaun Wane era.

Last year we would have capitulated and let them get a couple of late tries as we took our foot off the gas, but last week we were having none of it.

Our kicking game has improved to no end and the halves are keeping defenders honest by trying to sneak through the line constantly, this opens up gaps all around them.

Cade Cust was brilliant in his constant endeavours to straighten up Wakefield’s defence.

It puts so much pressure on them not to slide off that it gives us numbers on the edges so lads like Marshall and French can finish the moves in style.

You have probably guessed by now that I am bubbling with the excitement of what is to come from Wigan this year and if we keep focussed on performances like that, then the first week's game will soon be a distant memory.

A couple of players to single out in a very good team performance were Willie Isa, whose energy and steel was simply awesome, and Harry Smith who led the team around the field all night like a seasoned pro.

Our next task is to knock the lights out in Castleford.

They put on a very convincing show against Saints last week and if they had controlled the ball and their discipline a little better they would have had a good chance of winning, so they too will be hurting and wanting to right some wrongs before the rot sets in.

We simply cannot let them roll us, their early pace was an obvious tactic against a Saints side who could be weary after a 53 hour trip home, but they put so much into that game I feel if we can take an early lead they will begin to doubt themselves and lose the plot.

Let's hope so eh.

Finally I would like to offer my hearty congratulations to Sean O’Loughlin who received his OBE this week.

As proud of him as we are, it must mean so much to his family and is fitting of such a wonderful man.

Glynn Bradshaw

Well we asked for a reaction and we certainly got one.

We can only play what is in front of us, but Wakefield were a shambles, so it’s difficult to judge on how much better we were than last week.

However we completed high, looked good with the ball in hand and seemed determined to keep a clean sheet, with the only possession they had on our line coming near the end.

My man of the match was Jai Field, as I thought he was involved in the majority of our tries in one way or another and is such an important player for us.

It was a real team effort though, and Wardle also continues to impress.

Hopefully this will give us a bit of confidence going into what will no doubt be a testing challenge at The Jungle.

It’s as important as ever to start well and take the crowd out of the game.

It’s a chance to get a win on the road if we play to our potential, and hopefully prove that the setback in week one was no more than a blip.

Stephen Ford

The Wakefield game finished pretty much as most people anticipated with a runaway victory.

Wakefield were abysmal.

I don’t think I’ve seen such a poor team for a very long time.

If we were six or seven games into the season we could have scored 80+.

It was still nice to see some good tries and to nil the opposition.

After a very disappointing opening defeat it was good to see an infinitely more disciplined display.

Liam Marshall could be a good bet for the top try scorer.

He rarely fails to take any good chances and just gets on with his job.

One of the most underrated backs in the competition.

Castleford on Friday night will be a different game altogether.

We don’t have a great record there, and over the years I think I’ve seen as many defeats as I’ve seen victories.

The compact ground can restrict our attacking style so we will need good accurate passing with minimal handling mistakes supporting a disciplined and aggressive defence.

If there are no injuries I would go with the same 17 or maybe include Byrne at the expense of O’Neill.

It could be argued that Castleford could have beaten Saints on Sunday if they had taken their numerous chances so I am expecting a very hard game on Friday.

Hopefully a quick turnaround for Castleford will help us and after a tough 60 minutes or so I am hoping that we will dominate the final 20 to give us a victory by six to 10 points.

My main concern will be our ability to make hard yardage from within our own half against a fast aggressive defence.

Lack of real firepower from our pack is our achilles heel and it is something that Castleford will look to exploit together with attacking our right flank.

In summary this is the type of game that we must win if we think we are Grand Final candidates.

Looking forward to going and hopefully we can repeat last season’s victory there.

Ben Reid

I think we can all agree that the 60-0 drubbing of Wakefield was exactly what we needed last week.

Although I went into the game expecting us to win, I was still unsure on how the game would play out.

I watched highlights of Wakefield’s defeat to Catalans on week one, and they looked handy in attack, and I worried that, if Lino was in the groove and had a good game, if we didn’t stay strong, it could become a squeaky bum type of game. How wrong was I?

While it’s not exactly a game to be shouting home about, beating any fellow Super League team by 60, and keeping them to nil, takes some doing.

We waltzed in for 11 tries, Smith’s kicking was much, much improved, with only three misses and I thought as a team, we looked more stronger in the pack and used the width really well.

Wardle was a real standout, and I couldn’t believe he didn’t make the round two Super League team of the week, he was outstanding.

Marshall, who went in for four and scored his 100th try for Wigan in just 123 games, an incredible return.

Cust was once again strong in the halves and it was a much better outing for Toby King, who was the pantomime villain last week in his poor performance.

This week brings up another and more difficult challenge away at Castleford.

Now, there’s no way they will play as bad as they did on Sunday against Saints, and they are always up for the fight when Wigan come to town.

I think we need a strong start and I’m confident if we play with the belief we did last week, we should blow them away early doors and see the game out.

No suspensions, no new injuries, we should be going there strong and looking to continue from where we left off against Trinity.

It’ll be a tougher game in defence, with the likes of Mamo, Faraimo and Kenny Edwards being their most dangerous players in the opening two rounds.

It should be a good game and hopefully another win in the bag before we return to play Catalans at home in the early Thursday game next week.

The games are coming thick and fast now, and we need to just keep the momentum moving forward, while keeping our standards high.