Wigan's Sam Tomkins believes St Helens derby is 'biggest challenge' of Super League season
Thursday 29 March 2018 16:13, UK
Wigan's Sam Tomkins has described the Good Friday derby against St Helens as the “biggest challenge” of the season.
Wigan currently sit two points behind table-topping St Helens in the Super League but have one game in hand against their North-West rivals.
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Describing the fixture, Wigan talisman Tomkins said: "It's a huge fixture for us. Growing up in Wigan you're taught that that's the big one of the year. Aside from finals and semi-finals, Saints on Good Friday is the biggest challenge."
Warriors have dominated the Good Friday derby in recent years, with Saints' last victory coming in 2008.
On their recent record, Tomkins said: "We've been very lucky over recent years. I've played in some great games on Good Fridays. Hopefully tomorrow will follow the trend and we'll get a win and it'll be a great game."
St Helens go into the clash on a hot run of form however, spearheaded by 2012 Dally M Medal award winner Ben Barba.
Barba, from Australia, is the Super League's leading try scorer this season and has been widely tipped to be named the 2018 Man of Steel.
Speaking about his opposite full-back, Tomkins said: "He's playing really well at the moment and we've done plenty of video on him. I think you've just got to shut him down.
"When he's got the ball he's really quick and he's strong and, if you give him plenty of time and a little bit too much respect, he'll go over and score on you."
"We've done our preview on him and we'll do all our best to stop him but we'll have to see how that goes."
Easter is a key period in the Super League season and Wigan play three games within the space of just eight days.
On the fixture congestion, Tomkins said: "It's a time of the year where we focus on really getting a jump on a lot of teams. We've got a very good record at Wigan over the Easter period.
"All the backroom staff are doing everything they can to make sure we can churn out good performances and recover really quickly.
"So, we're excited about it but it's certainly a tough task."
