Wigan, the champions, recorded a third successive Super League victory to move further away from the competition’s relegation zone, but even the most pessimistic Warriors supporters will concede this is a side who resemble anything like title contenders after another uninspiring victory, this time over London.
Adrian Lam’s side are now six points clear of the bottom-placed Broncos after overturning a half-time deficit to win here, but the problems that have plagued the majority of their season thus far remain, with this another error-strewn, offensively uninspiring display. In fact, had Elliot Kear’s mistake shortly after half-time not afforded Wigan the simplest of opportunities to go ahead, this could have been an even worse night for the Warriors.
The deadlock was broken in an attritional first half when London’s Kieran Dixon opened the scoring from the kicking tee, and while the Warriors soon responded when Jake Shorrocks broke through the Broncos’ defence to touch down, that would prove to be a rare moment of success in the opening 40 minutes.
Further opportunities came and went for Wigan, and the Broncos made their hosts pay for their profligacy when Jordan Abdull’s clever kick allowed Jay Pitts to touch down, with Dixon converting to put London ahead once again. Leading 8-6, the Broncos’ attention then turned to further stern defensive efforts, and to their credit, they were doing a fine job of frustrating the Warriors.
Time and again, Wigan attacked the London line as half-time approached, and while the visitors deserved praise for the way in which they held their shape defensively, the nature of the Warriors’ attack was doing little to test their opponents with any real malice. It was perhaps no surprise, therefore, that after further frustrations close to the break, Wigan were booed off.
However, what Lam said at half-time clearly had the desired effect. Within eight minutes of the restart Wigan were ahead as Kear’s routine knock-on saw the ball bounce into the path of Chris Hankinson, and he sauntered through to put his side into the lead.
Eight minutes later, George Williams’s deft kick found Morgan Escaré unmarked in the corner, and in such a low-quality affair, the conversion from Zak Hardaker that put Wigan two scores ahead proved to be enough.