Shaun Wane says Wigan Warriors did not deserve to win League Leaders' Shield
Friday 25 September 2015 23:26, UK
Wigan coach Shaun Wane was disappointed his team failed to clinch the League Leaders' Shield, but admitted he did not think his side deserved it over the course of the campaign.
The Warriors, who ran out 47-12 winners against Castleford in the final game of the Super 8s, needed Huddersfield to stop Leeds from winning in order to finish top of the pile - and they were seconds away from doing that on Friday night.
With the clock ticking down, the Giants and Rhinos were level at 16-16 but a last-gasp try from Ryan Hall saw Leeds clinch it at the death at the John Smith's Stadium.
Wigan trailed 12-10 at the break at the DW after taking an early 10-point lead but they hit back in fine style with seven unanswered tries to set up a home semi-final against Huddersfield on Thursday night.
After the game, in which Dom Manfredi scored four of Wigan's nine tries, Wane said: "I am proud of them. At half-time, I told them 'at the moment, you are going away for a semi-final, Castleford were never going to come here and lie down.' They are a good team and their mentality was to come here and spoil the party.
"In the second half, we were dominant. I thought it was a fantastic win. It doesn't feel like a defeat but it's not far off. It is what it is. I have to congratulate Leeds. They have stayed in there and battled until the end.
"I am a massive believer in you get what you deserve and we have not deserved to win it. We have done what we can and come close but the fact is, we didn't get it and Leeds are the league leaders, you have to take it on the chin and use it as motivation going into next Thursday's game."
Embarrassed
Castleford coach Daryl Powell admitted he was embarrassed with what his side produced in the second half and believes some of his players need to take a good hard look at themselves.
The Tigers hit back from 10-0 down to lead 12-10 at half-time thanks to tries from Luke Dorn and Junior Moors, but they capitulated after the break and conceded seven tries without reply.
Powell said: "We served ourselves up at the start of the second half. A really disappointing half of football... if you lack as much control as that against a side like Wigan, then they are going to punish you.
"We didn't apply any pressure at all. I thought we were superb in the first half with 100% completion - it was probably 50 in the second - and if you want to be a top-four side, you have to be better than that. It was pretty dismal and disappointing to slip out of the season.
"I thought we played our best rugby league of the season in the first half, but it was a typical game of two halves. That was embarrassing in the second half, I was really disappointed with that.
"We have a bit of work to do to stiffen ourselves up and make sure that doesn't happen again. There are a few players who need to have a good look at what they are delivering.
"I won't name names, I will be telling them myself - but that was poor, some of the stuff we put out there."
