Wigan Warriors- The 18th man: 'Hopefully we will keep up the standards that the whole club is looking to'

The 18th man contributors reflect on Wigan Warriors’ victory over Toulouse and look ahead to the game against Wakefield Trinity.
Wigan Warriors face Wakefield this weekendWigan Warriors face Wakefield this weekend
Wigan Warriors face Wakefield this weekend

Darren Wrudd

I really did not know what to expect from Toulouse last week but in the end they were no measure for the effort and class we had on show.

Our first meeting was a different matter of course, and I still can’t believe that we are as good as we are, although the reality of Super League is perhaps hitting home for the Frenchmen.

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There is much talk behind the scenes that Toulouse should be given a free ticket for Super League next year and somehow find a way to give them exemption from relegation.

I sincerely hope that this does not happen purely for the integrity of our game.

It is simply not acceptable to change the rules of a competition half way through a campaign to favour one of the struggling sides.

Where was that Toulouse attitude when they happily came up a division at the cost of another club's demotion.

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How good was it to be back at the DW, a great crowd and fabulous atmosphere with the armed forces day veterans forming a guard of honour before the kick off.

Sounding the Last Post was a young lady who did herself proud and performed a wonderful piece which was both touching and thought provoking, well done indeed.

The game was obviously quite one sided and I could not help but think that we could have had several more tries too if our finishing was a little more polished.

Bevan French looks almost relaxed when chasing plays and his casual approach could have cost us at least two and possibly three more scores.

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All round it was a great effort by the players with a much bigger effort by the club as a whole for the complete experience of the first home game for quite some time.

Other results seemed to go our way but we need to push on and consolidate our form now going into a Wakefield game which has all the hallmarks of a banana skin waiting for us.

Wakefield were simply awful last week and got truly stuffed by Salford, even if one or two of the Salford tries were suspect in the extreme.

They will be hurting over that one and the danger here is that they will want to put much right in their next outing.

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However, I cannot see beyond a convincing win and I hope that we can press our advantage and not relax once we think the game is won, a habit of which we are guilty far too often.

This is the set up for a Magic weekend performance against the old enemy next time out, so we have no room for emotions, little time for cheap penalties and must continue as we mean to go on.

I look forward to watching this one and hope we keep up the standards that the whole club is looking to.

Glynn Bradshaw

I thought it was a reasonably good performance from us last week, particularly in the first half when we were quite clinical, but in the second half we made more errors.

I was disappointed with Toulouse

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I was disappointed with Toulouse, they weren’t as good as I thought they were going to be.

They have pushed some teams close this year, but perhaps this is a sign of how much we have improved.

French was good again, just wonder if there is a slight niggle with Field, he has had a couple of chances to really open up in the last couple of games on breaks and seems reluctant to do so.

It was pleasing to see Miski do well, he seems a popular member of the squad, does a lot of good work out of defence, although seems to lack genuine pace.

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The crowd was also very pleasing, but it was a pity we can’t replicate the atmosphere generated on our travels.

I’m looking forward to Wakefield, as ever we must always treat the opposition with respect, and you should always be wary of playing a team that has been smashed the week before, as they will have plenty to prove, especially in front of their home crowd.

However, if we are looking to finish in the top two, it is a game we must win, especially with a game against Saints the week after at Newcastle.