Shaun Wane to use Wigan defeat at Wakefield as motivation
Tuesday 12 April 2016 16:51, UK
Wigan coach Shaun Wane has revealed he will use Sunday's 62-0 mauling at Wakefield to fire his side up for the remainder of the season.
The Warriors were denied the services of 10 front-line players through injury and illness as they conceded 11 tries to the Wildcats in their heaviest league defeat for 11 years.
The loss left Wigan fourth in the Super League table, with 14 points from 10 matches this season, although they are only two points adrift of leaders Warrington.
"I know a lot of people will have enjoyed us getting beat by that sort of score and that's a form of motivation for the players," Wane said.
"Last Sunday was a major blip which will live with me for a long time but I understand the circumstances behind it.
"I've never known a week like it in all my career - six players really shouldn't have played but we had nobody else. We went into the game just hoping to challenge Wakefield but when they were warming up I could tell the players weren't right.
"They were very lethargic and when they came in after the warm-up, they were white so I knew it wasn't going to be our day."
Wane is hoping for some respite despite a short turnaround for the visit of Castleford to the DW Stadium on Friday, when prop Dom Crosby is likely to make his first appearance of the season after recovering from hip surgery.
"We're working hard with the medical staff to make sure they get the virus out of their system as quick as possible," he said.
"Hardly anyone trained last week but hopefully we're at the back end of it now. John Bateman had his first day back in today (Tuesday) and he probably had the illness worse than anybody.
"We've had a short, intense session, our first for a few weeks, so we'll look after their recovery. There's still quite a few coughing and spluttering."
Wane is likely to retain Jack Wells and Joe Bretherton in his 19-man squad after giving them their debuts at Wakefield but is hoping not to have to play them against Castleford.
"It was hard for them but they've both got good futures at this club," he said. "They are very good players and they will get another chance in a stronger team later on in the competition."
England second-rower Liam Farrell was suspended at the weekend but would have missed the Wakefield game in any case with a rib injury, and Wane confirmed he will remain on the sidelines for at least another fortnight.
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Skipper Sean O'Loughlin also remains among the casualties but full-back Sam Tomkins is now just four weeks away from making his return and hooker Michael McIlorum is the only player ruled out for the season.
"Over the next four or five weeks we'll have some good players being dripped in," Wane added.
