Tomkins: Wigan want revenge for 62-0 thrashing at Wakefield

Wigan will be aiming to atone for the low point of their title-winning campaign in 2016 when they take on Wakefield at Belle Vue today.

The Warriors ended the season on a high with victory in the Grand Final but forward Joel Tomkins says they have not forgotten the humiliation they suffered at the hands of the Yorkshire club last April.

Wigan had 10 regulars missing and others suffering from illness but Tomkins insists that was no excuse for their 62-0 thrashing, and he is hoping they have learned the lessons from that day.

“We got a good hiding last year against them,” said Tomkins, who is one of six survivors set to get the chance to exact revenge. “There were a few issues for us but there’s no excuses. They were on fire that day and we were absolutely terrible.”

Wigan are only a point ahead of sixth-placed Wakefield and five adrift of leaders

who have high hopes of pulling off their first away win over in the summer era.

The Tigers’ last win at Saints was in the Regal Trophy in 1992, two years after their last league success, but they gained a 22-6 victory in a pre-season trial at the Totally Wicked Stadium in January and coach Daryl Powell dismisses the suggestion that the friendly does not count.

“It does to me,” he said. “That’s why we took the game really. It was important for us to go there and make sure that confidence-wise we were in a better place. I don’t think there’s anything to fear.”

Like Wigan boss Shaun Wane and unlike most overseas coaches, Powell has no gripes with the packed Easter schedule. “The second game over Easter is always a difficult one but I think we’ve been great at managing Easter,” he said.

Second-placed seek to extend their winning run to six matches when they go to and bottom club aim to repeat last year’s surprise win at Headingley, which was their third successive victory over

coach Lee Radford takes a patched-up team to

go for a third successive win to leapfrog visitors in the table.