BY GEORGE
Williams is Warriors hero despite Edwards coach farce
Salford 22 Wigan 30
A GEORGE WILLIAMS hattrick provided Wigan with welcome distraction from the Shaun Edwards circus as the Warriors won for the first time in six weeks.
The club’s coaching conundrum rumbles on, with Edwards giving a series of media interviews after it emerged he hasn’t, as the club announced, signed a threeyear deal from 2020.
Adrian Lam remains interim coach while the two parties hold talks, and his side ended a five-match losing run with Williams capitalising on a dominant left-side attack that included winger Joe
Burgess for the first time in almost a year.
Lam has played a consistent straight bat on his own future amidst the Edwards speculation while chairman Ian Lenagan and rugby director Kris Radlinski look to bring the matter to a conclusion.
Lam said: “Ian and Kris have been working overtime to get through that part, and I’ve laid as low as I can because the priority for me was making sure we got a win this week.”
Asked if he would want to take the job on should Edwards not rejoin the club, Lam added: “I’m here for 12 months at the moment and I’m just focusing on that.” Lam described the game as an “emotional rollercoaster” after his side twice trailed in an entertaining contest.
Wigan led 18-16 at the break due to a purple patch of three tries in nine minutes midway through the first half.
After Josh Jones opened the scoring for Salford, Williams supported a Jarrod Sammut break before Thomas Leuluai created a try for Joe Greenwood and then scored himself.
The Red Devils got back into the game with back-toback tries from Derrell Olpherts and Niall Evalds, and regained the lead when Adam Walker picked Dom Manfredi’s pocket just after the restart.
But Wigan’s left-sided attack clicked into gear, with Burgess twice breaking free to send Williams racing in to complete his treble.
Salford coach Ian Watson said: “Defensively we were poor. We got run around a few too many times on our right edge. They did the basics well and we didn’t.”