Wigan Warriors saw off a resilient York City Knights side at the LNER Community stadium.
It was a comfortable win in the end for the Cherry and Whites, but what were the three major talking points and how did the players rate?
Three major talking points:
Wigan’s watertight defence
It was expected Wigan would win this game, but to record a clean sheet was impressive. The Warriors demonstrated late last season how difficult they can be to break down and the Knights, despite chance after chance near Wigan’s line, just found it all but impenetrable.
Brave effort from the Knights
As expected, praise for York as they stood toe to toe with Wigan for large periods of the game. Former Leeds Rhinos prop Adam Cuthbertson caused some problems for the Warriors, as did others, and had their chances stuck, it could have been a different story. It was not to be though as Wigan’s superior fitness and professionalism helped them through.
Jackson Hastings impresses again
Named man of the match, former Man of Steel Jackson Hastings had a top performance for Wigan. Having involvement in all five of their tries, Hastings’ skill and quality, both his ball handling and kicking game, proved too much for York to handle.
York City Knights
26. Myles Harrison – 7
22. Perry Whiteley – 6
30. Tyme Dow-Nikau – 7
3. Liam Salter – 7
5. Kieran Dixon – 8
1. Matty Marsh – 7
28. Danny Washbrook – 7
19. James Green – 8
9. Will Jubb – 7
13. Adam Cuthbertson – 8
21. Joe Porter – 6
12. Sam Scott – 7
20. Tim Spears – 7
Substitutes
24. Dan Barcoe – 6
8. Ronan Dixon – 7
16. Marcus Stock – 7
25. AJ Towse – 6
Wigan Warriors
3. Zak Hardaker – 9
22. Jake Bibby – 7
11. Willie Isa – 8
28. Sam Halsall – 8
30. Umyla Hanley – 7
20. Harry Smith – 8
31. Jackson Hastings – 9
8. Brad Singleton – 8
9. Sam Powell – 8
10. Joe Bullock – 8
15. Morgan Smithies – 7
13. John Bateman – 8
14. Oliver Partington – 7
Substitutes
17. Tony Clubb – 8
19. Liam Byrne – 7
21. Ethan Havard – 8
25. Joe Shorrocks – 7
