Frank
Endacott will surely raise a smile at this result; it was defeat
against Salford earlier this season that signaled the end of his tenure
at the JJB. Like us, he must be wondering how what is effectively the
same team that surrendered so tamely at the Willows can hand them such
a comprehensive cuffing a matter of weeks later. Impressive as Stuart
Raper has been since his arrival from Cas it can't all be down to him.
Maybe this team are just slow starters. Whatever the reason it's good to see Wigan playing with purpose
and confidence. Yes, it was only Salford but the form of the key
players, many of whom looked jaded and out of touch at the start of the
season, augurs well for the rest of the season. Even Matthew Johns, who
stood in for the injured Adrian Lam at scrum-half, has found some form
- with a combination of clever kicking, deft running and handling he
had a direct influence in four of the first half tries.
The first half was a blitz. Wigan were 42-0 up after half an
hour, and added a further four points before half-time, at which point
a century of points looked a safe bet. As often happens though, Wigan
took their foot off the gas in the second-half, possibly out of pity
for their opponents who, by this stage, had given up the ghost, chucked
in the towel and were clearly just going through the motions. Radlinski, as ever, was awesome running in three tries taking
his tally for the season to 23. For the record Farrell helped himself
to 26 points with the boot and, for good measure, four more from a
second-half try and Terry Newton compounded Salford's misery by bowling
over for a hat-trick himself. All in all a good night to be a Warrior.
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