Injuries in rugby league are never a fun feeling and for Wigan coach Shaun Wane, he has concerns that key player Matty Smith might have sustained a long-term shoulder injury, in his side’s rampant 46-6 performance over the Salford City Reds.
With their lead now extended to three points, Wane was left seething after Smith was taken by what he deemed as a shoulder charge.
“I was impressed tonight. I thought we did really well and scored some great tries considering the ruck speed was painfully slow. I thought our skill was good, our concentration was good and our defence was good,” said Wane/
“Matty Smith, well you all saw the shoulder charge and that went on report so someone will get the benefit of that. He has badly damaged his shoulder so I wasn’t impressed with that.”
Wigan’s injury concerns went deeper, though, with centre Anthony Gelling also injuring his shoulder.
“I feel sorry for him, he is a good kid. He is fit and strong and then he does that, I’m really disappointed for him but he’ll be back,” said Wane.
The message that Salford coach Brian Noble had was plain and simple. His side were outplayed and that is the level that he wants Salford to eventually be at.
“Compliments to Wigan. That is the bar that we have to aspire to,” said Noble.
“They are physically very good and they had too much prowess physically and skilfully tonight. It is a reality check for us and the commitment has to start on Monday to get better every week.
“It is a team game and we have to make sure that we need to be a bit better than that. There were some individual performances that were good and we can build on that.
“I fully understand where we are at and where we need to go to and I’m pretty confident we will make strides both this year and particularly next year.”