Wane: The job is not done

Shaun Wane was proud of his side’s efforts but now has his sights set on victory at Old Trafford

Wigan Warriors head coach Shaun Wane said that their “job is not done” after his side booked their place at Old Trafford.

A 14-0 win over Castleford in the second semi-final clinched a 10th Grand Final for the Warriors, with Wane now hoping to end his 30-year association with his home-town club as a champion.

“I don’t cry very often but I did out there,” said Wane, who will take up a role with the Scottish Rugby Union after next Saturday’s clash with Warrington.

“It’s emotional, it’s been tough the last few weeks. I definitely didn’t want to finish tonight, I wanted to finish next week, that’s why we didn’t celebrate that much tonight, the job is not done.”

Wigan displayed all the defensive qualities instilled into them by Wane to snuff out the threat of the Tigers.

Scrum-half Thomas Leuluai marked his 250th appearance for the club with the opening try while full-back Sam Tomkins, one of three departing players, provided the finishing touches with a second-half try, along with a conversion, a penalty and two drop goals.

“I’m very pleased and proud,” Wane added. “It was a great effort.

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Shaun Wane, alongside his grandson, shares his thoughts after his last home game in charge and Wigan Warriors’ semi-final victory over Castleford Tigers

“We weren’t great with the ball, the conditions didn’t lend to that, but we showed a lot of desire with our defence against a quality team.

“There were loads of individual performances, I thought Dom Manfredi and Tommy Leuluai were fantastic.”

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Look back at highlights of Wigan’s 14-0 victory over Castleford

Wigan will go into next Saturday’s final, which is a repeat of the 2016 title decider which they won 12-6, on the back of a nine-match winning run but Wane says he was impressed by Warrington’s 18-13 victory over St Helens in the first semi-final.

“I’ve a lot of respect for Warrington,” he said. “I thought they were good last night. They had a good game plan and executed it. We’re going to have to be better with the ball.

“It would mean absolutely everything if I could finish off with a win. I’m very close to my players, they’re my mates, and if I can do it with these group of players, it would be right up there.”

Wigan’s Sam Tomkins scoring a try during their semi-final victory

Castleford coach Daryl Powell could not hide his disappointment after watching his side once again finish the season on an anti-climax.

Runners-up to Leeds in the 2017 Grand Final, the Tigers were nilled for the second successive game.

“I’m hugely disappointed,” Powell said. “I just thought we made too many errors.

“We needed our boys to have their best games of the season and we didn’t get that from enough players.

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Castleford Tigers’ head coach Daryl Powell reflects on his side’s semi-final loss to Wigan Warriors

“And in the second half we panicked. There was nothing in the game, 13-0 is nothing with 20-odd minutes on the clock.

“I thought Wigan scrambled really well but we were just not good enough and that’s two years on the trot so clearly a mindset change is needed.

“Tonight highlighted the fact that our mentality as a collective unit needs to change. We finished third in the table but we’ve got to find a way of converting that into Grand Final wins.”