Friday 12 February 2016 23:25, UK
Wigan coach Shaun Wane watched his side make it two wins out of two at the start of Super League XXI with a sixth successive victory over injury-hit Huddersfield but admitted they have yet to play well.
The Warriors followed up their opening 12-6 win over Catalans Dragons with an 18-13 success at the John Smith's Stadium, where England winger Josh Charnley scored the match-winning try four minutes from the end.
"I'm just glad to get the two points, that's what we came to get," said Wane, whose side next take on Brisbane Broncos in the World Club Series.
"I'm happy to be sat here with four points and we've not played well.
"It's a decent start for us but we understand we need to improve for next week. We played ugly and won.
"Some of our skill was poor. They controlled the ball and they were allowed to do that, which is disappointing. We had a spell when our completions were about 50 per cent which is not us."
Already starting the season without the Tomkins brothers, Sam and Joel, Wane opted to leave out England stand-off George Williams with a minor shoulder injury and Wigan's attack looked threadbare at times.
Trailing 6-0 at half-time to Jermaine McGillvary's 25th-minute try, the Warriors hit the front thanks to touchdowns in the third quarter from Liam Farrell and Dominic Manfredi, both converted by Matty Smith.
Huddersfield hit back through debutant winger Jamie Foster and scrum-half Jamie Ellis nudged them back in front with a drop goal 10 minutes from the end.
Wigan finished the stronger side, however, and skipper Sean O'Loughlin provided the killer touch by sending Charnley over for the all-important score.
Wane conceded that his players may have had one eye on next Saturday's game with the Broncos.
"They did some things that are not my team so there could be a bit of that," he said. "They are all excited about next week.
"Losing George yesterday affected us but we showed some toughness. I think we would have lost that game last year.
"I don't want to take anything away from Huddersfield. They put out a young side who played with some guts and tested us."
Without eight members of his 25-man squad through injury, Giants coach Paul Anderson was thrilled with the performance of his youthful side, which included 18-year-old debutant centre Sam Wood, and felt they deserved better.
"It's a feeling of disappointment," he said. "Our commitment and effort was outstanding.
"What you saw is the future of the club. They stood up real well and we know now that we have blokes out there no matter how old they are that can do a job for us.
"We should have won that game. When we went 12-6 down, we could easily have thrown the towel in but that's not us."
The outcome was tough on Ellis and acting Huddersfield captain Ryan Hinchcliffe, who did a superb job between them of making up for the absence ofthe talismanic Danny Brough.
"It was real pleasing that Jamie Ellis got the game by the scruff of the neck," Anderson said. "He was the best half-back on the pitch.
"I thought all the senior blokes led by example and on the back of that the young ones responded."
