
Wigan Warriors are feeling the benefit of a warm weather training camp as the club look to kick on from their recent pre-season loss to Leeds Rhinos.
Matt Peet’s side suffered a 22-4 loss to Leeds Rhinos at Headingley in Ash Handley’s testimonial with that game being the second and final fixture of Wigan’s pre-season.
They had previously beaten Championship side and dual registration partners Oldham with a very young squad, however, a number of key players returned for the fixture against Leeds.
One of those was Super League’s leading try-scorer in 2024, Liam Marshall, with the Wigan Warriors winger earning an England call-up based on his impressive campaign that saw him clock up 27 tries in 25 regular season games.
Shortly after the loss to Leeds, Wigan jetted off to a warm weather training camp in Tenerife – something that several other Super League sides had done earlier in the month – and Marshall has now spoken on how it has impacted the Warriors’ training.
Speaking to club media, he said: “There’s a tendency to think when you come abroad that it’s a holiday, but it’s definitely not – we’re here to work. The first days have been tough and we know things will only ramp up from here.”
Wigan arrived on Tuesday afternoon and will return in time for their Challenge Cup clash against Sheffield Eagles, something that the squad are prepping for as they improve their skills in the warmer weather.
Warm weather training has major benefits in terms of drilling skills such as ball handling and simply getting on a pitch with a good surface, something that clubs such as Castleford Tigers and Hull KR benefitted from earlier in January when the ice and wind hit England.
Most importantly, Wigan can have a full debrief from that Leeds Rhinos loss and look ahead to starting their Challenge Cup defence which begins on Friday, February 7th.
Marshall labelled the loss to Leeds as a “good run out” but added: “We don’t read too much into pre-season results but there are definitely parts of the game we can improve and tweak.
“We’ve got a clear focus for training and this is the perfect opportunity to improve those areas heading into Sheffield.”
