Wane's reign at his hometown club

As speculation over who will succeed Shaun Wane rumbles on there is one thing for sure - the new coach will have big boots to fill.
Shaun Wane after the WCC triumph with his wife Lorraine and daughter Bethan, and his grandson TeddyShaun Wane after the WCC triumph with his wife Lorraine and daughter Bethan, and his grandson Teddy
Shaun Wane after the WCC triumph with his wife Lorraine and daughter Bethan, and his grandson Teddy

Wane had already served Wigan as a player, scout, scholarship coach and academy coach before being appointed Michael Maguire’s assistant ahead of the 2010 campaign.

The Warriors ended an eight-year trophy drought by winning the Grand Final and added the Challenge Cup the following year before Maguire returned home to Australia.

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Wane stepped up and in his first season, 2012, swept to the league leaders’ shield.

Shaun Wane won the Challenge Cup in 2013Shaun Wane won the Challenge Cup in 2013
Shaun Wane won the Challenge Cup in 2013

The following year, Wigan won a Challenge Cup and Grand Final double and impressively, Wane took his hometown club to Old Trafford for the following three years - winning in 2016.

Man of the match in the historic 1987 World Club Challenge, he guided Wigan to the same title last year - arguably his greatest triumph - and also took them back to Wembley.

They have started this season well, and are second in the table behind St Helens with a game in hand. A victory against Warrington next month would put them 80 minutes away from Wembley again.

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Wane, who made more than 150 appearances as a player, has become Wigan’s fifth-longest serving coach - and the longest since Eric Ashton’s decade-long spell from 1963.

He was also the first Wiganer to take charge since Mike Gregory, in 2003, who himself was the first ‘local boy’ to take the helm since Colin Clarke in the mid-80s.