Tony Clubb defends attacking plan which led to Wigan Warriors' title success

New coach Adrian Lam has promised to add some “flamboyance” to the way the Warriors play in 2019.

Clubb says the props will ball-play more as they look to freshen up their attack.

But he believes criticism of their attack last season – the last of Shaun Wane’s seven years in charge – was unfair.

Clubb pointed out Wigan were second in the ‘points for’ category behind St Helens in the regular season, before they went on to surge through the Super-8s unbeaten and ultimately claim Grand Final glory.

The 31-year-old said: “People spoke last year about our attack being off but we were the second best in the competition, and it got us what we wanted in the end.

“In the last few years, we prepared well under Waney.

“But this year it’s a lot different - we’ve changed a lot in both defence and in attack.

“We’ve been working on it and it’s looking good, it’s looking sharp, and that excites me. With Lammy it’s more expansive and the middles will play a bit more.”

Wigan launch their Super League defence at St Helens on January 31 and Clubb says fans may only see the best of their attack once the pitches firm up.

“You’ve got to be smart with the weather,” he said. “Don’t get me wrong, it won’t be five drives and a kick, but there are things in place that when it starts brightening up, we

will start throwing it around more.

“But you need to be smart, you can’t be making stupid errors, early on. If it looks basic at first, it will come on and Lammy will give us some freedom with the ball.”