Wigan coach Shaun Wane insists he will treat Dewsbury Rams with the respect they deserve as they begin their defence of the Challenge Cup this weekend.
The Warriors, who won the 2013 Challenge Cup with a 16-0 win over Hull FC at Wembley Stadium, get their campaign off the ground this Friday with a trip to take on Dewsbury at the Tetley’s Stadium.
Wane insists he will treat the build-up to this game just like any other and will prepare to take on the Championship side as if they were a Super League opponent.
Wane said: “We will approach the game exactly the same. We will be prepared for it. We will have defence days and attack days and we’ll be ready.
“We have already looked at footage of them and our preparation will stay exactly the same. The state of the ground and the changing rooms is not something I can prepare my players for unless we take them to St Pats. But apart from that we will just turn up and be professional.”
Wane has no fresh injury worries heading into the Challenge Cup encounter and he will have Michael McIlorum back from suspension, while Sam Powell has returned to training following the ankle injury he picked up while in Sydney for the World Club Challenge.
The Wigan coach is expected to make a number of changes, but he will be hoping his side do not leave it as late as they did on Friday to get a win.
The Warriors trailed for the majority of their DW Stadium clash against Catalan Dragons and needed a last minute breakaway try from former North Queensland Cowboys fullback Matty Bowen, who has started to win over some of the doubters among Wigan supporters.
Wane said: “”We bombed a couple of tries and it could have quite easily been a 20 point win. But fair play to them they came here and had a dig, they played the game very slow and were allowed to do so. They are a tough team to beat, as they showed last week against Huddersfield.
“We weren’t at our best, but we found a way to win and we have to be satisfied with that.”
Talking about Bowen, Wane added: “He had a quiet game, to be fair, but to come up with that, it’s what he has been doing for years at the Cowboys and it was an outstanding effort.
“Our completions were poor in the first half but the last 20 minutes in the second half showed what we could do and that got us the win.”
