Shaun Wane: St Helens deserved the win

Wigan coach Shaun Wane said the best team won following his side’s loss to rivals St Helens.

The Warriors went down to a 14-6 defeat against the Saints at the DW Stadium on Thursday night – their first loss at home this year.

Wigan now sit behind 10 points behind Super League table toppers St Helens, but Wane wasn’t too disheartened by his side’s display.

He said: “The best team won, without a shadow of a doubt.

“They were better for the majority of the game, but I was really proud of our efforts. I thought the referee was good, he didn’t give many penalties and it was a classic Wigan and Saints derby.

“The players got stuck into each other and there are some sore bodies now. We were second best, I thought our attack was a bit clunky and there were too many players for us that didn’t train all week due to injured bodies and it looked that way.

“Saints had a few missing as well. They haven’t got as many injuries as what we’ve got, but they had some very good players missing. Overall, I’m okay. I can’t stand losing against St Helens, it hurts me badly, but I’m alright with this one.”

Wigan are without Oliver Gildart, Joe Burgess, George Williams, Liam Farrell, Dom Manfredi, Sean O’Loughlin and Ryan Sutton at the minute due to injuries.

Wane even joked at bringing Under-19s coach Darrell Goulding out of retirement to help ease their injury concerns.

He added: “I was weighing up bringing Daz Goulding back at one stage!

“Joe Greenwood hadn’t run since he got injured prior to the game, so we had to rush him back.

“We had number 41 in Chris Hankinson playing and he has been working in the [Manchester] Arndale all week so it was needs must for us.

“Chris did a good job for us though. Our effort was good and from looking at the big picture, we never gave in and we pushed them to the end.”