Widnes will be big mental test for us – Wane

WIGAN coach Shaun Wane admits his world champion players face a test of their mental toughness as they prepare for a return to Super League action tomorrow night against Widnes.

The Super League champions partied into the night following their epic 22-6 World Club Challenge victory over Cronulla on Sunday but will come back down to earth when they host the Vikings at the DW Stadium.

“We celebrated what was a massive win for the club and enjoyed the night but now it’s back in the grind of Super League and we’ve got a must-win game on Friday against Widnes,” Wane told a press conference at the club’s training base in Orrell.

“I know it’s going to be tough for the players, it’s tough for us as coaches, to change your concentration onto another game. But that’s our challenge.

“This is a mental week for the players, we can’t get them on the field that much.”

Wane will make changes for the second match of his club’s domestic title defence, including the return of former Widnes secondrower Willie Isa, but will keep them to a minimum at the request of the players.

“Every single player came up to me in the pub on Sunday night and said they want to play on Friday,” Wane said. “Nobody wants resting. We’ve lots of bumps and bruises because it was a tough game but nothing major. When you win those big games, nobody gets injured. We’ll be smart with the players and make sure they are fresh for Friday.

“I’ll make a couple of changes. Willie Isa will come in and play against his old club.

“I was gutted about him not playing last week. It was probably the toughest decision I’ve ever made. I left Jake Shorrocks out of the Grand Final last year but this was a lot tougher because he’d done nothing wrong.

“I just needed a big bench and he understood it. His attitude was great.”

Despite the impressive nature of their win over the Australian champions, Wane says there is much room for improvement and knows his team will become an even bigger scalp for their Super League rivals with the world crown on their heads.

“That’s great, more pressure,” Wane said. “There was a huge amount of pressure on Sunday and the players loved it. If I’m honest, I don’t think we were outstanding against Cronulla. We can play a lot better and we need to play a lot better to keep on winning games in Super League.”