Wigan Warriors 8 Sydney Roosters 20: Five things we learned

Five things we learned from Wigan's 20-8 defeat to Sydney Roosters in the World Club Challenge...
Wigan's fightback wasn't enoughWigan's fightback wasn't enough
Wigan's fightback wasn't enough

1. The Sunday Times headline proclaimed Sydney Roosters were "opponents who don't care".

If that was the case, they certainly pretended to, naming 13 of the 17 players that beat Melbourne 21-6 (yes, a wider margin than the WCC!) in last year's Grand Final.

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Victory would have extended Wigan's record in the World Club Challenge to five but now, instead, the Roosters have moved level with them on four - and secured the NRL's ninth WCC title in the last 11 years.

2. Brett Morris must enjoy playing at the DW Stadium.

He scored at the venue for Australia in 2009, backed it up with a double for St George-Illawarra in the WCC two years later and, last night, topped it with a hat-trick on his Roosters debut - and his first match at centre!

"My mum sent me a message this morning and said, 'Good luck, try and get man of the match again'," he smiled. "I just wanted to put in a solid performance so to get three tries was pretty special."

It was, but he was helped by two defensive blunders which gifted him the first two tries inside eight minutes - and gave the Roosters a commanding 10-0 lead which ultimately proved too great for the hosts to overhaul.

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3. From that point on, the sides exchanged two tries - and Wigan deserve credit for their effort and tenacity.

Wingers Tom Davies and Liam Marshall scored tries either side of half-time, and there were spells of attacking quality from Adrian Lam's side, particularly during the second-half when they trailed by eight points and gave fans hope of a fightback.

The Roosters, though, showed more composure and made fewer errors, and in the closing stages - when they could have been forgiven for lacking match-fitness - they managed to close the game out. They were deserved winners.

Wigan weren't helped by the loss of Liam Farrell to injury, and too often they shot themselves in the foot. Errors and penalties are often symptoms of fatigue but many of the Warriors errors looked like they were simply spooked - and fans let Robert Hicks know what they thought of some of his decisions.

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4. In the build-up, Sydney Roosters made no secret of the fact they saw Sean O'Loughlin as Wigan's biggest threat - and the 36-year-old produced a towering display.

"If Sean O'Loughlin is not one of the best players in the world... he's an incredible player and asked a lot of questions," said coach Trent Robinson, without prompting.

"When I heard he was going off I thought 'good, he's giving us a break', then five minutes later he was back on the field."

Legend Denis Betts labelled O'Loughlin the best player on the park, and official man of the match Morris called him "outstanding".

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Elsewhere, George Williams grew into the contest, Dan Sarginson caught the eye, Marshall did well to finish his try while Joe Greenwood won the 'shot of the match' award for a bone-rattling hit on Jared Waerea-Hargreaves.

5. Result aside, it was an enjoyable night.

The pre-match build-up, featuring fireworks and an AC/DC tribute band, also had the right amount of pomp. And the atmosphere created from the 21,331 crowd - which included Martin Offiah, Gary Connolly and Shaun Wane - crackled from start to finish.

Waerea-Hargreaves injected some needle into proceedings, but it wasn't a dirty game; it was largely entertaining and fast-flowing... aside from the length of time it took prop Sio Siua Taukeiaho to strike his goals!

There is the risk with WCC fixtures that they get one of two reactions - if the Super League side wins, the NRL outfit didn't take it seriously; if the NRL side wins, they're so much better than Super League.

This was neither of those, and it whet the appetite for this fixture to grow.