Steve McNamara has his say on Wigan Warriors and the play-offs after 48-4 defeat

Now, why on earth would a coach feel sorry for his opponents after losing 48-4?

Well in the case of last night, Steve McNamara believed it was perhaps a lose-lose situation for the Warriors as they hosted a Catalans side with next to no Super League experience with 10 players making their debuts as McNamara rested the majority of his side ahead of the fixture with the play-offs firmly in his sights.

It was one of those games where a win for Wigan was guaranteed but only a win by an inordinate amount of points would have been a success and even then people would say ‘it was only against a reserve side.’

McNamara thus described it as a “difficult night for Wigan” live on Sky Sports before going on to describe them as a “benchmark” side and “one of the best teams in the competition.”

He believed the presence of the Warriors in the play-offs alongside a few other top teams should make the play-offs very interesting: “I think it was a real difficult night for Wigan. I’ve been in that situation, don’t judge Wigan on tonight judge them on what you saw last week against St Helens. They’re a super side. That’s the benchmark.

“Salford are chasing hard, Saints are a great team, Leeds are finding their form and Castleford are still fighting. I think it’s going to be really interesting play-offs.”