Williams seeks gold standard in home run

George Williams says Wigan are determined to 'set the standard again' on their return home this weekend.
George Williams has kicked eight goals from as many attempts in his last two matches, as well as a drop-goalGeorge Williams has kicked eight goals from as many attempts in his last two matches, as well as a drop-goal
George Williams has kicked eight goals from as many attempts in his last two matches, as well as a drop-goal

Wigan end a month on the road with a high-stakes Super League clash against Widnes on Sunday.

A defeat would stretch a winless league run to nine matches and, more pertinently, could see them drop to within a point of the bottom-four - with three further rounds before the split for the Super-8s.

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Wigan have won four of their nine home matches this season, including the World Club Challenge, and Williams wants to re-establish the DW Stadium as a fortress.

He points to recent campaigns when they have been more successful at home. In 2014 and ‘15, for example, they lost only twice at home in each campaign.

The 22-year-old said: “It goes without saying we want to win more games and it’ll be great to be back in front of our own fans.

“In previous years, we’ve gone a lot of games at home without getting beat.

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“And that’s what we want again - we need to set that standard again in these games.”

Three of Wigan’s next four matches are at the DW Stadium, with Warrington and Leeds also visiting before the Super-8s phase of the campaign.

Williams says the immediate focus of Sunday’s match is starting the game well, conceding leaking 13 unanswered points at Huddersfield ultimately proved costly as they finished 19-19.

“We can’t start like that. It takes so much energy to get back into the game – which we did – but then we tired, because we’d used up so much energy,” said the England international, who was able to take a positive from the outcome.

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“It was a tight game, we were involved in one in the Cup against Warrington the week before but, before that, you’re talking quite a few weeks of having 40 scored against us.

“So we were disappointed not to get the win, but I think it’s something to build on going into these matches.”

In both of their last two matches, Williams’ flawless goal-kicking has proved critical, and his record over both matches stands at a perfect eight from eight, and a drop-goal – a huge improvement on previous weeks.

“I think it was about time I started getting some,” he smiled. “In games like that, when it’s close, luckily mine went over.”