Wigan Warriors: Three talking points from the Magic Weekend defeat to Catalans Dragons

Matty Peet’s side were on the end of a 46-22 defeat to Catalans Dragons in Newcastle.

The Warriors have now lost three of their last four Super League games.

Here are some of the talking points from the match:

More Magic misery

Wigan’s wait for their first Magic Weekend victory since 2018 goes on.

Catalans proved to be far too strong for Peet’s side, and fully deserved the two points.

It was a really poor display from the Warriors- it’s as simple as that.

They were second best in all the key areas, and it’s a display the fans will quickly want to forget.

As for the players, they’re going to have to quickly learn from it.

They’ve now been well-beaten by the Dragons on two occasions this season, and to have any chance of enjoying Grand Final success in October, they’ll have to find a way to close that gap between now and then.

Defensive woes

In recent weeks, the Warriors have leaked tries far too easily.

For large periods of the game at St James’ Park they couldn’t deal with the intensity of their opponent.

The Dragons exploited Wigan’s shortcomings in a number of areas.

The right edge in particular struggled, with the majority of the tries coming on that side.

It’s been a sticky patch for Peet’s side in the last few weeks, and with St Helens coming up next, things aren’t going to get easier, but they do have the ability to get back on track.

Field’s return

Jai Field was available for selection for the first time since the end of March, with the Australian starting in the halves.

In terms of the result and his own personal display, things probably didn’t go the way he would’ve hoped, but he will benefit from getting the minutes under his belt.

Discussing Field’s return, Peet said: "Every time you get a player back from injury it’s a positive.

"I threw Jai back in at the deep end today, and I’ve got to take responsibility for that.

"It’s great to have him back, he’ll only get better the more he plays.

"In the coming weeks and months we’re going to get more players back.”