Wigan Warriors: Three talking points from the defeat to Hull FC

Matty Peet’s side conceded all their points during a poor first half.

Despite improvements after the break, they were unable to come away with the win.

A disappointing first half

The Warriors endured an opening 40 minutes to forget.

Errors just kept coming, and they looked second-best in the energy battle.

They weren’t able to produce anything substantial to trouble Hull FC- who were certainly up for the occasion.

In attack they looked short of ideas, and in defence mistakes were too frequent.

The build-up to Iain Thornley’s try towards the end of the first half was the Warriors’ first real spark of the game.

Things did improve after the break, but the damage had already been done and Hull FC were able to see out the win.

What went wrong?

It’s hard to put your finger on one particular reason why Wigan were off the boil during the first half.

Perhaps their growing injury list just caught up with them a little bit.

It’s been a major blow to lose Mike Cooper, Brad Singleton and Kaide Ellis from their pack in the last month.

Overall, they have coped well, but sometimes they will miss their experience.

After the break the biggest problem was just execution.

Peet’s side dominated field position, but just couldn’t make the correct decision to find the line.

Ultimately, it was just a blip, and positives can be taken by how they picked themselves up in the second half.

Thornley’s return

Thornley was named in Wigan’s starting 13 for the first time since last June.

Throughout the last few weeks he has been picking up game time out on loan and with the reserves as he looks to put his injury troubles behind him.

It was great to see him back in the first team- and on the scoresheet with a brace.

Despite his injury problems since rejoining the club, Thornley has always looked solid when he’s played.

Ryan Hampshire was also named as 18th man and will certainly be back in contention at some point in the next few weeks following his extended spell on the sidelines.

Peet is also hoping Cade Cust will be back around the Challenge Cup game against Leeds Rhinos later this month.