Wigan coach Shaun Wane hails 'fantastic' George Williams
Friday 24 July 2015 00:17, UK
Wigan coach Shaun Wane hailed the performance of stand-off George Williams as he celebrated his 50th appearance by helping his side to an impressive 48-12 win over Hull at the KC Stadium.
Wane has stuck loyally by the home-grown 20-year-old after handing him Blake Green's No 6 jersey at the start of the season and has been delighted with his response.
"He's had his doubts from other people but there was never any doubt in my mind," Wane said. "We showed faith in him and he's rewarding us.
"He's at about 30 per cent of what he's capable of, he's an absolutely fantastic player and we should be proud we've got an English kid there.
"I thought Matty (Smith) and George was fantastic. The way our halves controlled the game was the most pleasing thing for me."
Williams scored one of the Warriors' eight tries, pouncing on a Hull handling error to race 40 metres for an opportunist score, while veteran full-back Matty Bowen, preferred to youngster Ryan Hampshire, touched down twice in the second half on his return to the side.
"Matty Bowen was always going to play tonight," Wane said. "They are both good players, we are lucky to have two class full-backs, but Mango did some great things."
John Bateman, Sean O'Loughlin and Sam Powell also got tries and Matty Smith kicked eight goals for Wigan as they ended the regular season on a high.
The two points takes the Warriors level with leaders Leeds, who play Catalans Dragons in their last game, and ensures they will go into the Super 8s with momentum.
"We'll go into the eights in a good manner," Wane said. "I thought we were ruthless at times and our skill and tempo was good.
"Everything paid off today. We'd done bits of things in games well but tonight we put it all together."
