Wane gutted by opening loss

James Gordon

It was a first game to forget for new Wigan coach Shaun Wane, as the Warriors went down 20-16 at home to a depleted Huddersfield side.

Nobody had given the Giants much hope given their injury list, and their coach Nathan Brown admitted his surprise at how well his youngsters went.

Brown fielded Greg Eden, Joe Wardle and Jacob Fairbank from the start, with Scott Grix starting at stand off in place of the injured Kevin Brown.

Huddersfield went in front through Lee Gilmour following a cagey opening 20 minutes, and a Danny Brough penalty ensured they took an 8-6 lead in to the second half.

Larne Patrick‘s try ten minutes in to the second half meant Wigan were always playing catch up, and despite scores from Liam Farrell and Sean O’Loughlin, they were beaten at the DW Stadium.

Wane said: “I am disappointed with that, we have trained really well since the Salford game and I knew Huddersfield would be strong, they have some match winners and I drummed that into our team that they would be a threat and a team that can play, we needed to be on the ball today and we just weren’t, it’s as simple as that.

“It is going to be an honest and brutal chat (on Monday) for us, the players are as disappointed as me which I am pleased about. Five or six individual performances were not up to scratch.

“It is one game and it is a long season, whilst I am gutted at losing any game  it is a long season and we will fix it. In a few days time we are playing against a very strong Leeds side and we need to perform better.”

Super League champions Leeds visit the DW Stadium on Saturday for a Round 2 clash that will be televised on SKY.