Sam Tomkins and John Bateman delighted to end Wigan hoodoo at Leeds
Sam Tomkins and John Bateman said it was important to end Wigan’s six-year hoodoo at Emerald Headingley.
The Warriors were 6-0 down at the break, with Tom Briscoe scoring the first half’s only try for Leeds.
But in a determined second half display, Oliver Gildart pulled a try back for Wigan in the 71stminute. Tomkins converted the try, added a penalty and kicked a remarkable drop-goal late on to hand Wigan their first win at Leeds since 2012.
And Tomkins said it was good to get the win at Emerald Headingley.
He said: “It is important that we won here (at Leeds).
“There has been a lot made of us not winning here for quite a few years and I’m sure it was talked about during the game, but it was good to get it off our backs.
“I could probably stand on that field until Christmas and not hit a drop-goal as sweet as that.
“We gave something like five penalties away in the first half and if you give Leeds that amount of penalties then they will punish you. We just had to hold on and it paid off in the end.”
And England star Bateman was also glad to help end Wigan’s run of defeats at Headingley.
He added: “There has been a lot in the press this week that we haven’t won here (at Leeds) in quite a while and I don’t think I’ve ever won here, so it’s a really good victory for us.
“Leeds are a good outfit and they are going to test you all the way through. They took a bit to break down, but we stuck in there and grinded out the win in the second half.
“I don’t think the ending will be good for Waney’s heart as well! We are the type of team to stay in it until the last minute, it proved good for us last week (at Catalans) and this week as well.”