Wigan Warriors ready for 'best of Warrington', says Adrian Lam

Warriors coach Adrian Lam is expecting nothing less than Warrington’s ‘best team and best rugby’ ahead of tonight’s big game at the DW Stadium.
Zak Hardaker scores against Warrington earlier in the seasonZak Hardaker scores against Warrington earlier in the season
Zak Hardaker scores against Warrington earlier in the season

The stakes couldn’t be much higher, with fourth-placed Wigan able to move level on points with the second-placed Wolves with a win.

Warrington also have the small matter of a Challenge Cup final against St Helens next weekend to occupy their minds.

Lam, though, says Wembley won’t be a factor come kick-off.

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“I’m not sure if it’s a good time to play them, as much as it’s a good time for us to play another team in the top four,” he said.

“We’re in a position now where we need to see where we’re at it heading into the semi-finals.

“We played St Helens a few weeks ago and we were a little bit off. But I think that was also good for us, to show us where we need to keep improving.

“Every team will obviously have a flat spot in the season, and Warrington’s seems to have come over the last few weeks.

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“They’ve got one eye on the Challenge Cup final, and one eye on making sure they cement that second spot in Super League.

“All we can do is plan for them to come here with their best team and play their best rugby.”

It’s the fourth meeting of 2019 between the two sides, with Warrington having won twice at the Halliwell Jones Stadium and once at Anfield.

“We’ve played Warrington three times away from home – this is the first time we’ve had them at the DW,” Lam assessed.

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“We definitely need to make a statement and take advantage of home soil.

“For me it’s not so much about avenging defeats we’ve had earlier in the season.

“I was looking back at the teams we’ve put out against Warrington – and they were different teams every time.

“We really haven’t had our best side out against them, and that makes it very hard to get any kind of cohesion going.

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“We feel like we’ve taken a lot of steps forward, but we’ve still got a long way to go, a lot of improvement in us.

“And that’s why this game is important for us.

“If we can come up with a good performance, it’ll certainly give us another boost as we aim for the next level.”