Shaun Wane delighted with Super 8s record

Wigan coach Shaun Wane was pleased that his side became the first team to win all seven of their fixtures in the Super 8s.

The Warriors beat Hull FC 14-12 at the DW Stadium on Friday night to ensure they finished the Super 8s campaign with a 100% winning record – a feat no other team has achieved in the concept’s four-year existence.

Wigan host Castleford Tigers in the semi-final play-offs next week and Wane is just pleased to be going into the knockout match with a winning mentality.

He said: “We were disjointed, Hull were disjointed and it was an end of season game where not much was riding on it.

“There was a bit riding on it for us because we wanted to go through the eights unbeaten and we got that in the end but it was ugly.

“Gabe Hamlin has been under the pump in the last few weeks but he was good and did some good things. John Bateman was outstanding and was dead-set man of the match. I thought Dom Manfredi was good as well so there were a few individual performances.

“That looked like a proper Dom Manfredi performance. He had lots to do and he troubled them all the way through the game.

“We wanted to be the team to make that record. It is not an easy thing to do, there’s no question about that. We just need to make sure we keep it going now and we will be a very different team next week so I’m buzzing.”

Wigan’s Under-19s side won their ninth Academy Grand Final in 11 years as they beat Leeds Rhinos 14-6 in the curtain-raiser for the first-team match.

And Wane spoke highly of the Warriors’ youth system.

He added: “I’m really pleased for them.

“They’ve done really well this year and I’m so happy for Matty (Peet), Daz (Darrell Goulding) and Shane Eccles. It was a really good performance against a far bigger Leeds team who were ultra-confident. I’m very happy for our Under-19s.

“I spoke to our Under-19s the night before when we presented them with their jerseys and we spoke about how we wanted to finish the year, so it is just up to us (first-team) now and we have got a big week ahead us because it’s a massive game against Castleford on Friday.”