Wigan’s returnees can spark cup success

Thomas Leuluai believes Wigan’s returnees can inspire the team into the last four of the Challenge Cup.

The Warriors visit Warrington in the quarter-final on Saturday with the likes of Sam Tomkins and John Bateman back in the squad after spells on the sidelines.

Leuluai said: “We’re one game away from a semi-final and I think the most pleasing thing is the players coming back.

“Being able to train with those players has lifted our intensity – it’s been really strong this week.

“I’ve played one game with John Bateman this year. He was player of the year last year so he’s a big player to have back.

“It’s a high calibre of players we’re getting back – we’re not just getting bodies back, we’re getting really good players back.

“You saw Oliver Gildart last week – he came back and played really well. We can’t just rely on these guys, but they’ve already lifted the intensity in training so it’s been a positive.”

Leuluai’s teammate Liam Farrell insists Wigan must not lose their focus during games if they’re to have any chance of success this season.

The Warriors are without a win in their last five outings and Farrell is eager to end that run against the Wolves this weekend.

“We’ve been in control in a number of our last few games,” said Farrell. “We seem to let leads slip and it’s something that we can’t be doing.

“We’re taking our foot off the gas when we think we’ve got the game in control, whereas we need to keep going and keep pressing to force more errors and cause more problems.

“I think with the team warrington have got they’re struggling just as much as us, but we know how much class they’ve got and they can cause trouble if we let them.

“We need to make sure we’re good with them, because they’re a classy team when they want to be.”