Wigan Warriors- The 18th man: 'Hopefully we can continue to keep our concentration and momentum'

The 18th man contributors reflect on Wigan Warriors’ victory over Warrington Wolves and look ahead to the game against Wakefield Trinity.
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Robert Kenyon

The win over Warrington was a bit of a hollow victory if I'm honest, they are a club that I like to beat when their fans are confident and it's a close game.

It just seems cruel to keep beating up on Warrington, the jokes over guys, come on Warrington sort yourselves out.

Wigan Warriors take on Wakefield this weekendWigan Warriors take on Wakefield this weekend
Wigan Warriors take on Wakefield this weekend
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It was good to see Field flying again, and chasing Matty Ashton down like he was running in wet cement.

If Field continues to play like this, we're going to have another fight on our hands next season with NRL teams.

Singleton impressed me too, he ran strong in that game.

The game against Wakefield could be a banana skin as they are really up against it in a relegation battle, I hope we keep our concentration and get the momentum leading into the Saints game in a couple of weeks.

Ideally the Wakefield game I'd spell 1 or 2 tired bodies ready for the play-offs.

Stephen Ford

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The game against Wire was the proverbial game of two halves.

The first half our passing was inconsistent and Wire were digging in deep keeping Field and French quiet, but bombed two chances to give them an 18-0 lead.

The first half reminded me of our recent performance at Leeds, we seemed under-cooked and the usual crispness of our passing was missing.

A better team than Wire would have punished us far greater than the 6-4 lead that they held at half time.

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In our defence we were missing Farrell, Bateman, Powell, Havard, Thornley and Tommy from our starting 17 so there were some excuses for a scrappy first half.

For me the big change was Cust to hooker. We seemed to pick up momentum almost immediately and wore Wire down to win convincingly.

Good performances from Singleton, Mago and Cooper in the forwards sprinkled with some good touches from KPP and finished with yet another try out of nothing from Field.

It’s a long old season so on reflection a good result despite missing several key players and not starting particularly well.

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The game on Sunday against Wakefield doesn’t really raise much enthusiasm as this will be our third visit of season to Belle Vue and sums up the inadequacies of the loop fixtures.

I’ve been offered a lift to go but at this point it seems unlikely that I will actually go.

If young Junior Nsemba were to make his first team debut then I may actually make the effort to go and see him play.

I’m expecting a tough game as Wakefield are in the relegation battle.

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I think that one more victory should see them safe, particularly if Wire also beat Toulouse over the weekend, so I fully expect them to start strongly and compete for the full 80 minutes.

It wouldn’t surprise me if it’s the same 17 as against Wire.

Hopefully Cust will get some more time at hooker as this could be another string to our bow so to speak and will be a very useful option to have up sleeve come the play-offs.

Darren Wrudd

I thoroughly enjoyed the game last week.

Warrington as expected came at us for the first 40 minutes and although we held our own, it was a tight game and what one would normally expect from this fixture.

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I was about to say that then the wheels fell off the Wire chariot, but they didn’t really.

I think they just ran out of gas and we turned up the heat.

They seemed almost devoid of structure at times and they desperately need a halfback who can lead them around the field, as Williams is just not that sort of player.

That said, we played some pretty good rugby and some amazing off the cuff stuff from Bevan and Jai.

Not really sure even after re-watching it how Jai Field got that solo try but I laughed out loud and chuckled all the way home on that one alone.

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Our turning point had to be the chase back to tackle Matty Ashton after he intercepted a pass.

Field was on him like a rash and he had no chance, but then for Marshall to come from the other wing and run around the ruck to get the ball back showed wonderful desire and effort.

I am sure all the lads were proud of that.

Shortly afterwards Halsall tackled Ashton again into touch and the celebrations were superb, like we had won the cup - which of course we had.

The Locker cup is back where it belongs at Wigan and whilst I feel for the Warrington lads, I think they will survive and fight again next time around.

Not sure the same can be said about Wakefield though.

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Only two points ahead of the Toulouse new boys, and they have had an horrendous year and I think this will be their time to bow out.

I can’t get sentimental about the club as the place is a dump and another promise of redevelopment which should have happened years ago is too little too late.

I just can’t see where they will pick up points to make them safe, while Toulouse have shown on several occasions that they have the team to trouble some top sides and someone I feel will get hammered by them.

So I expect a desperate performance which could prove troublesome but shouldn’t really. Another good score for us would heap the woes onto their points difference but that’s sport isn’t it.

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Finally the news broke on Tuesday that Lee Briers would be leaving the club at the end of the year.

Looking at his effect on our attacking line and structure I am not surprised at all that Brisbane have approached him.

An immensely talented player, apparently a superb coach and an understanding of the game to rival most, the cheeky little lad from St Helens has certainly left his mark on the Super League.

I have no doubt he will do the same in the NRL and wish him all the luck in the world to go and do his best to fly the flag down under.

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He will be missed for sure, but eventually when he comes back I expect a ticker tape parade and a place at Wigan kept ready for him to pick up where he left off. But before that, there are another couple of trophy’s up for grabs so no slacking eh.

Glynn Bradshaw

It was a good win on Friday with the numbers we had out.

Warrington bombed a few good chances first half and were probably the better team, but after the break we dominated territorially and took our chances.

I still don’t think we are firing on all cylinders and will need to improve to secure that second spot.

Singleton was very good off the bench and pleased to see Halsall get another run out.

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Wakefield have had some good results since we last went there.

They beat Castleford away, were unlucky to lose against Saints at home and pushed Catalans close.

They appear to have tightened up defensively and are fighting for their Super League survival.

Hopefully we have Farrell back to give us more of an attacking threat in the forwards, but it will no doubt be a tough game in difficult conditions as the heatwave continues.

Jon Lyon

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The first half of the Warrington match was very hard to read.

We didn’t really click in attack and were opened up a few times defensively.

It’s fair to say with a bit more luck and composure Warrington could have held a fair sized lead at half time, but instead we ended up just two points behind.

The second half was a different ball game. We were much more clinical in attack, and while Liam Marshall probably ran a total of about ten yards for his tries, his overall performance and his effort to get in those positions meant he fully deserved all three.

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While we still look a little off the pace of a Grand Final winning side, credit has to go to the players for sticking together through a tough first half.

Our props in particular showed great go forward and Cust made a big difference at hooker after a rare off day from Shorrocks with ball in hand.

Sam Halsall continued to impress, and will hopefully keep his place for the rest of the season.

Wakefield will be a very tough proposition on Sunday. They go into the game having lost very narrowly to both Saints and Catalans and having thrashed Castleford in their last three games.

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They know a victory will more than likely see them safe from relegation with Toulouse playing the top three sides in the league within their remaining five games this season.

Brad O’Neill will return from his ridiculous suspension to give us some quality ball from dummy half.

I would expect our forwards to continue their fine vein of form in giving us the field position we need.

Kai Pearce-Paul and Smithies have been outstanding in recent weeks and hopefully we will have Liam Farrell back in contention.

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As always, with Field, French and Marshall in the side we will have the firepower to convert any chances we create. I would expect us to edge a very close game by less than six points.

The sad news that Lee Briers will be leaving us at the end of the year will hopefully inspire the players to send him off to Brisbane with the Grand Final winners medal that eluded him at Warrington.

I can’t say I was his biggest fan as a player, though I’ll hold my hands up and admit the rivalry with Warrington may have clouded my view somewhat, but it’s clear to see the effect he has had on our attack this year and he will be a big loss and a tough act to replace.

Who could deny him and his family this opportunity though, he will leave with everyone’s best wishes I’m sure.