Betts wary of world champions Wigan
Widnes coach Denis Betts has congratulated Wigan on the manner of their World Club Challenge win over Cronulla Sharks, and he is expecting a real test when his team travels to the DW on Friday.
Betts felt that Wigan combined creativity and toughness to a superb degree against the NRL champions.
“It was outstanding,” he said.
“I thought over the weekend that Wigan and Warrington put a real big statement down for the game in this country.
“I know the game itself has been knocked over the last couple of years. We’ve had the restructuring, the Super Eights, the Qualifiers, some of the lack of perceived depth within our game.
“There’s lots of excuses that are flying round from the Australians: they haven’t had a competition game yet, they’re still in their preseason.
“They came out the blocks and they fought for every inch. They were tough, they were resilient and they scored two or three really good tries.
“It’s a nice place to be in for our game, in a World Cup year, to have the World Club champions back in this country after so long.”
The winning mentality of the Wigan side is something that Betts is very wary of indeed, after he watched the manner of the Warriors’ win over Salford earlier in the season.
“They weren’t at their best against Salford, Salford actually played pretty well,” he said.
“But Wigan were stil 20 points up at half time, just because of their ability to go from attack to defence, the ability to score points from edges.
“There’s quality throughout their team, in the likes of Williams and O’Loughlin, Burgess, Gildart and Gelling on their edges.
“They’re a very dangerous looking side, and what they have got is that Wigan mentality, which is pretty tough.”
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