Wigan Warriors need to beat a top side, admits Jake Bibby

The Warriors are fourth in the Super League ladder but have failed to beat any of the three teams above them, Catalans, St Helens and Warrington.

And the team behind them – Hull KR – completed a ‘double’ against Adrian Lam’s side when they ran out 26-14 winners last Friday night.

With some tasty fixtures on the horizon, starting with the visit of the champions, ex-Salford back Bibby knows they need to show their big-game capabilities.

He said: “We have spoken about that.

“We need to play against the top sides and win. Imagine the feeling this would do and the confidence it would give us if we won this?

“When I wasn’t at Wigan and I played against them, they were always the team who came strong at the end of the season and that’s what we have to do now.

“This is the right time to beat a top team and send a message to the rest of Super League.”

Bibby denied their confidence had been dented by a poor display against the Robins in their last outing.

Wigan trailed 16-0 early on and though they clawed the gap back to two points by the break, they failed to add any further tries.

“This is the derby, there’ll be no problems with players being ready for it,” he said.

“It’s not nice to lose, and my mistake at the start (against Hull KR) didn’t help, that and our other mistakes and people missing one-on-one tackles.

“It’s not like people are doing it on purpose, they’re disappointed with themselves – but if we can’t get up for this we shouldn’t be playing.

“There’s always a different energy when we play St Helens, we can’t wait for it, and I think they may be a bit rattled after losing to Cas’ last week.”