Wigan conduct Grand Final ‘autopsy’ in Florida

Wigan head coach Shaun Wane will not let his players forget the pain of losing to St Helens in the Grand Final at Old Trafford last season, it seems.

Kris Radlinski, the Warriors rugby general manager, has revealed that the Wigan head coach went through the Grand Final defeat with his players after their first training session in Florida this week.

He also used the team meeting to reinforce a few messages about the culture and tradition which surrounds Wigan.

“After lunch at 12pm, Shaun then had a few more things that he wanted to get off his chest,” Radlinski wrote in his ‘Rads in America’ blog on the Warriors’ official website.

“With end of season holidays and international commitments, this was the first opportunity to review the Grand Final.

“The reason for this autopsy is that even though the circumstances of the Grand Final meant that we were at a huge disadvantage to win the game, with smarter rugby league, we actually could have still won.

“For us to have gone on to win that game with 12 men would have been one of the greatest wins in our club’s illustrious history.

“That is the point that SW wanted to make. Moments like this is sport and particularly for Wigan Rugby League Club will be remembered for a very long time and SW felt that this will go down as a missed opportunity.

“He then followed this up with a superb video showing moments from from our history that was edited with powerful, moving music.

“The people and officials of Wigan still talk about events from decades ago. Every time that you pull on a jersey, you have the opportunity to become a part of our legacy.

“It was a very silent room with all players eyes transfixed to the screen. It was important that the new signings saw this and I paid close attention to Larne Patrick and Taulima Tautai.

“If they didn’t know much about our history, they would have done after this video. It was a brilliant team meeting.”