’CHUTE TO THRILL
Lam: Airborne raid has kept my Warriors in title hunt
12 ADRIAN LAM’S parachute regiment plundered the points in Perpignan with an airborne raid on Catalans Dragons.
Wigan Warriors were the first team to fly to France after the resumption of the Super League season, and Lam was a very happy pioneer.
“It was like a parachute raid,” said the Wigan coach. “It’s a long day, meeting up at dawn, boarding the plane, but the boys did their job in heatwave conditions and I couldn’t be prouder.
“We knew we had to go set for set with them but after 25 minutes they flattened out a bit. I was proud of the guys there were a lot of best performances from our players today.
“When you look at the ladder and how it’s turned around, this was a massive win for us – anything else would’ve put us a long way off the top.”
Catalans couldn’t cope with the ferocity of Wigan’s young forwards and the energy-sapping humidity.
Two weeks of Covid quarantine had obviously taken its toll and Dragons coach Steve McNamara admitted the lay-off had hit his squad hard.
He said: “It’s clear we weren’t on the pace tonight and our preparation for this game has obviously been affected by quarantine.”
Missing key players Josh Drinkwater, Michael McIlorum, Tom Davies and David Mead, the Dragons lacked firepower and McNamara is hoping to field a stronger line-up against Salford Red Devils in next week’s Coral Challenge Cup quarter-final.
Catalans had permission for 5,000 fans to attend and McNamara added: “It was particularly disappointing with a home crowd for the first time in six months.”
Wigan struck first with an eighthminute try for Oliver Gildart despite a hint of a forward pass in the build-up.
Then, despite immense pressure from the home team, the Warriors survived a series of penalties and dropouts to land the second try – a 40-metre dash by Joe Burgess who fed full-back Bevan French to cross on 30 minutes.
Burgess struck the killer blow just before half-time, picking up a loose carry by Sam Kasiano and sprinting over the line. Zak Hardaker’s conversion and a 40th-minute penalty made it 0-18 to the Warriors at the break. Even an early second half sin-binning for Wigan’s Joe Greenwood couldn’t spark Catalans.
Instead, the Warriors went further ahead as a dazzling midfield move by Bevan French found Gildart in the 55th minute, whose decisive pass was deemed to go backwards by the video referee, and Burgess got his second.
Hooker Sam Powell added another for Wigan with Hardaker converting.
Julian Bousquet barged over eight minutes from the end and Fouad Yaha crossed in the corner but it too late. CATALANS: Tries: Bousquet, Yaha;
Cons: Maloney 2
WIGAN: Tries: Gildart, French, Burgess 2, Powell; Pen: Hardaker; Con: Hardaker 3