Wigan went back to basics to get win at Widnes, says Shaun Wane

Wigan coach Shaun Wane said his side went back to playing simple but effective rugby to pull off a fine comeback at Widnes.

The Warriors came from 14 points behind to pull off a great comeback and win 32-24 against the Vikingsat the Halton Stadium on Friday night.

Wigan were 18-4 down at the break, but Wane admitted that his half time team talk with his players was fairly straight forward.

Speaking after the game, he said: “It was a calm half time talk.

“There were just a few technical fixes that needed doing and a bit of contact in our defence that we needed to improve on and I explained how we could be a bit smarter.

“We were at our best in the first 10 minutes, even though we were down a score. We controlled it and got to the end of our sets and then we went away from doing what was working.

“We got ourselves into a bit of trouble, but we fixed it in the second half. The players know what works for us and they all agree with me on how we need to play.

“We are finding a way to win. We had a poor 40 minutes in the game, but still found a way to win so I’m very happy.”

Wane also praised Denis Betts’ Widnes side for their hard and spirited display.

He added: “Widnes were very good, considering the players they had out.

“They were outstanding. Widnes threw a lot at us like they always do, they are busted with injuries but they really put us under pressure.”

Warriors forward duo Ryan Sutton and Joel Tomkins were picked out for praise by Wane.

Wane said: “I thought Ryan was our best player by far.

“He came on and scored a try straight away. He played simple when he needed to and got a bit of width on his pass, so I thought he did some great things. I was very impressed with him.

“Joel was nice and calm when he came off the bench. He did things to settle us down a bit and he played simple which worked for us.”

Joe Burgess left the field with a knee injury and Wane revealed that it looks like a ‘bad one’, but he doesn’t know the extent of it just yet.

Sam Tomkins, Liam Farrell, Ben Flower and Tom Davies are all likely to return for Wigan’s clash with Salford Red Devils next week.