Wigan coach Shaun Wane says irrespective of tonight’s result at Warrington, the Warriors will not use their trip to Australia as a result.
After two weeks Down Under for games against Hull FC and South Sydney, the Warriors take their unbeaten start in the league to the Halliwell Jones Stadium to face Steve Price’s Wolves.
And Wane insists his team will be ready to play – and that the talk of jet-lag or Australian hangover will not be good enough.
He said: “The jet-lag has gone. Training has gone really well and we’ve looked after the lads recovery-wise and they’ll be feeling great come tomorrow. It’s only a flight; it’s 24 hours and it’s no big deal – we’re not making any excuses up, there’s none coming from us. Our medical staff have worked wonders with the players and we’ve trained good and ready to go for a big game.
“We’ve worked out when they need to sleep, and the players are more than back into it now. There’s one or two who aren’t but they’re all more or less back into sync.”
Wane also believes Warrington is the perfect backdrop for his side to try and extend their perfect start to the new season.
He said: “They’re going to be a bit tired but so will Warrington, and we need to make sure they’re going to be under the pump. There’s no excuses from us; we’re happy we did what we did and I’m looking forward to a good performance on Friday.
“It’s never entered my head that we’ll lose tomorrow, and if we do, I still won’t change my mind over what we did. We need to get a good mindset and make sure we turn up at a good place. It’s perfect that it’s Warrington, because they’ve just got their first win and they’re a good team, so it’s a perfect team for us to play.”
Wane also hinted that England international will reprise his role from the World Cup on Friday and play centre ahead of youngster Craig Mullen.
“I’m looking at players below Dan Sargison in our squad and I’m putting myself and all the staff under pressure to find out the reason why we’re not putting them straight in,” he said.
“It should be straightforward and it’s not, so we need to be smarter and better with that. At the moment though, I’m not prepared to risk one of them. I won’t have any deadwood here at this club; I need everyone challenging.”
