SUPER LEAGUE HEROES RETURN
Old guard to inspire Wane’s side
SHAUN WANE will call on Wigan greats of the past ahead of Sunday’s World Club Challenge with Cronulla, after seeing the team battle past Salford.
Wane (right) was a member of the Wigan side that beat Manly 8-2 in the 1987 version of the fixture, which pits the English champions against their Aussie counterparts.
And he will invite his past teammates to speak to the current squad this week, after two tries from Oliver Gildart helped the Warriors start their title defence with a win.
Wane said: “It’s a big week for us and it means a lot.
Impressive
“It’s 30 years since I played in this game and it still gets mentioned to me once a week around town.
“I’ll get a few players in from that game to chat to the players to make them understand how important the game is, if they need it.”
With Gildart and George Williams impressive, Wigan raced into a 26-0 half-time lead before the Red Devils staged a second-half comeback.
Wane said: “We need to be a lot better next week and we will be.
“We just had to blow the cobwebs off today because this was the first time this team had played together.
“I am very happy we have got Tommy Leuluai, George Williams and Sam Powell in there and I am happy with where we are at.
“I think that we are a lot better prepared this year, along with the fact that this is the World Club Challenge, whereas Brisbane last year was just part of the series.
“This is the one – we need to be better, but Cronulla do too.”
Wane reported no injuries from yesterday’s win, with John Bateman fit after a muscle spasm complaint. The Wigan coach also expects no further action after Anthony Gelling was placed on report for an alleged high tackle on Salford’s Junior Sa’u.
That was one of a number of first-half Red Devils attacks that came to nothing, while the visitors were far more clinical.
Gildart touched down after a Sean O’Loughlin kick and Joe Burgess followed suit from Williams’ grubber. Gildart then exchanged passes with Liam Farrell for a terrific third, and further efforts by Williams and Joel Tomkins put Wigan in control at the break. But Salford responded well after the restart and hit back through debutant hooker Kriss Brining. They continued to come forward throughout the half but, by the time Sa’u and Michael Dobson touched down in the closing stages, it was too late for an unlikely comeback win. Red Devils coach Ian Watson said: “It was a window of what we were like last year – poor in the first half and very good in the second.”