Wane eager to complete derby double
Shaun Wane has urged Wigan to embrace the derby atmosphere when Wigan visit Leigh on Thursday.
The Warriors head into the game on the back of three successive defeats, but Wane is eager to see his team complete the double over the Centurions.
“It means a lot to our town and it means a lot to the people of Leigh – it’s 1-0 to us at the minute after the win at the DW,” he told the club’s official website.
“If we’d both won our last three games I think it would still be a very tense game. The form of each team won’t create any more desperation, this is a one-off game.
“I want to make sure that we defend well this week and get back to what we’re good at – that’s my main concern.
“Leigh can play – they’re a good team who are big and aggressive and they’re hard to beat on their own patch.
“It’s going to be a full-on game, the atmosphere is going to be great. It’s been a long time since we had a full-blooded derby game at Leigh. I’m looking forward to it.”
One player who won’t be in Wane’s line-up on Thursday is Tony Clubb.
The 29-year-old is on his way back after surgery to remove a kidney, but he has been paying close attention to Wigan’s recent performances.
“We’re determined to get it right – the story of our season so far seems to be that we haven’t managed a solid full-eighty performance,” he said.
“Against St Helens and Wakefield we played well, but then we seemed to lose control of the game and they found themselves back in it.
“Against Hull we struggled to get into the game, but in the second half we turned it up a gear and got some points back but it was too late. I think that’s biting us a bit, but we want to do nothing but improve and get things right.
“There’s been a lot of focus on this and game management this week. As well as our usual training, Waney has had us doing a lot of strategy and analysis on our iPads – hopefully this will show come Thursday when we take on Leigh.
“We didn’t get the result against St Helens, so we want to get the better of our other local rivals and pick up the two points against Leigh.