WIGAN WARRIORS assistant coach Sean O’Loughlin has given his verdict on his side’s clash with Wakefield Trinity which was abandoned after an hour at the DIY Kitchens Stadium tonight.
Wakefield were leading 22-12 at the stage the match was abandoned by referee Chris Kendall following persistent floodlight failure.
For O’Loughlin, it was a “strange” fixture but he has take plenty of positives from the clash.
“It was a strange one, you want the game time and there were a few individuals that were a bit shy on the minuted they wanted to play. There were a few lads on the bench that didn’t come on,” O’Loughlin said.
“They put us under pressure and tested us across the board. The young guys on the edges, it was a good hit out for them.
“Wakey tested our edges and threw some good shapes at us. In pre-season, you are probably never quite where you think you are.
“You’d love to play silky rugby and score loads of points but that’s very rarely the case. I thought some of our young outside backs did a good job. There are a lot of positives from their point of view.
“We didn’t get any injuries and for our established players it was good to get a hit hour. We now have got a long week going into the Hull game and we will have a full week of training.”
O’Loughlin also explained why Jake Wardle played amongst an inexperienced outside backline.
“He played because he’s come off the back of an injury, it was more about giving him half a game this week and that would dictate his minutes next week.
“Instead of expecting an 80 minute performance next week we wanted to throw him in for 40 minutes this week.”
The Wigan assistant had no qualms about referee Chris Kendall calling time after an hour.
“I think the referee was doing everything he could. Every time the lights went off it was at a decent pause in time.
“But, the last time, blokes were running full tilt and with the lights going off it gets dangerous out there.”
Click here to purchase a digital edition of League Express.
Click here to purchase an online edition of League Express through pocketmags.com.
Click here to listen to our new League Express Podcast.
League Express is widely available from local newsagents across the north of England.
