Wane wary of Widnes

Wigan coach Shaun Wane is treating Thursday night’s opponents Widnes with respect, ahead of the two teams’ clash at the DW Stadium.

Wane feels that the Vikings are particularly strong at half-back, as well as in the back row.

“I have a lot of respect for what they do, they play a good brand of rugby league – very exciting,” he told his club’s official website.

“Their halves are playing really well. They’ve had a week off and seem to have got quite a few players back so they’re very strong.

“They’ve got some good players, lots of threats on the edges and their pivots are very strong. Hanbury has some gas out of the back too so we just need to defend like we did against St Helens.”

One Viking who will be familiar to Warriors fans is forward Greg Burke, another player Wane views as a threat.

“I’ve watched every game that Greg’s played for Widnes and he’s their main man,” he said.

“He’s playing really well. He’s their main ball-player, I knew what he could do when he was at Wigan, he’s a fantastic passer of the ball, a good ball-carrier and a good player.