Wigan Warriors youngster on prioritising defence following victory over Catalans Dragons

Wigan Warriors youngster Zach Eckersley discussed his side’s focus on prioritising defence following their 48-0 win over Catalans Dragons in the south of France.

Eckersley returned to the side after being stretchered off against Leigh Leopards just a week before.

The 21-year-old was given the all-clear from the medical team, and he was glad to be back on the field to face the Dragons.

Talking about his week following the Leigh game to Wigan’s media team, he said: “All the medical staff and coaching staff have looked after me this week.

“Obviously, in the moment, it was scary, but more scary for your family than yourself because you know how you feel yourself.

“Seeing your son or grandson leave the field and it doesn’t look great must be a scary feeling, but obviously the medical staff were great and I can’t thank them enough for looking after me.

“Thankfully, I had some scans and it was good news, so this week, I’ve been really looked after and I was ready to get back on the training field.”

Wigan Warriors back talks defensive priorities and a memorable trip to Perpignan

The Warriors ran in eight tries in the 48-0 victory in Perpignan in front of a sizeable travelling support.

A focus for coach Matt Peet has always been defence since taking over the job from Adrian Lam back in 2022, and keeping the Dragons scoreless was a highlight for Eckersley and his teammates.

He added: “We worked a lot on the defence this week, and prioritising defence, that’s what we do as a team; it was great to keep the clean sheet today.

“We pride ourselves as a club on the defensive work we do as a team and covering for each other and stuff like that.

“Even when we played well in attack, the defence is the most important thing in terms of the group. I feel like we worked hard for each other today as a team.

“The season is long and we don’t get ahead of ourselves, but it’s obviously nice to be getting the wins and we just keep working on that defence and hopefully the wins will keep going.”

The Wigan Warriors outside back was keen to mention the togetherness of the current squad, and Eckersley said that the experiences in Perpignan will be a key memory at the end of the season.

He finished: “It’s been great, we had the day off yesterday and Adam (Keighran) was playing for Catalan the other year.

“He knows a few good options for a coffee and stuff like that, so he took the lads around them.

“We’re a tight-knit group as it is, but the more time we can get together, the better.

“We’ve got a long away run now, so we’re going to be spending a lot of time together as a team. It’s good, we’re all good mates, so yeah, it’s been a good weekend all round.”

Wigan Warriors next face a trip to Salford Red Devils on Friday 30th May.