Wigan Warriors: Hat-trick hero Jake Wardle reflects on the victory over Leeds Rhinos

The centre went over for a hat-trick in the 50-0 victory over Leeds Rhinos at Headingley on Saturday afternoon.

After briefly being overtaken in the Super League table following results on Friday night, the Warriors reclaimed top spot heading into the final two games of the regular season.

Discussing the win against the Rhinos, Wardle said: “It was a really pleasing performance.

“It was disciplined- the best thing about it was keeping them to nil.

"Going into the business end of the season, it’s good that our defence is where we need it to be.

"There’s a lot of confidence in the group. We’ve got the ability to score points, so if we defend well then the attack will take care of itself.

"The heat played a big role in the game but I think we handled it well. There’s some areas we can improve, but the desire we showed was pleasing.

“The support we had was massive, the fans have been great all year.

"It was my first hat-trick, which is obviously a proud achievement, I like to think I can offer a bit of everything, but the main thing is the team getting the win.

"There’s a lot of belief in the squad. We will enjoy the result, but we won’t get too carried away because there’s still two games to play before the semi-finals.

"It’s hard not to acknowledge what St Helens and Catalans Dragons are doing, but at the same time it’s in our hands.

"If we take care of our own performances and getting convincing wins like we did against Leeds then we just need to worry about ourselves.

"To have three teams competing for the League Leaders’ Shield going into the last few weeks is really good for the sport, but we just want to play as well as we can.

"When it come to playing those sides in the play-offs then we’ll be ready.”

The Warriors’ next outing comes against Castleford Tigers at the DW Stadium on Friday night.