Lam: Not seen the best yet

  • Adrian Lam reacts to Wigan’s 28-10 win over Leeds on Sunday, stating there is more to come from his side.
  • The boss also gives praise to his middle pack, applauds Liam Farrell after scoring his 100th try and explains what his team will be up to in their week off.
  • Lam: “Defence has been our focus and I thought we were outstanding.”

After a hard-fought victory over Leeds Rhinos on Sunday which saw Wigan Warriors move to the top of the Betfred Super League table, Head Coach Adrian Lam believes his side are still “nowhere near our best”. 

Despite calling his defence “outstanding” after a 28-10 win at the Totally Wicked Stadium, the boss believes there is still more to come from his team. 

Five tries, including two for Bevan French, saw Wigan make it two out of two since the restart and Lam was keen to express how proud he was of his players.

French celebrates his try with Jake Bibby.

Speaking at the post-match virtual press conference, via Zoom, he said: “It’s nowhere near our best rugby at the moment with the ball. Defence has been our focus and I thought we were outstanding. 

“It was a really physical game – as physical as it gets. For about 23 minutes in the first half – there were no stoppage of playing. The gas was taken out of them, but they found a way to keep turning up for each other.

“I’m really pleased. It was a massive win for us. We had a young pack and a young half. We needed to get through it, have a strong performance and get the win which is what we did. We got the two points, so I’m really proud of the team.”

When asked about his thoughts on the collective performance from his middle pack, Lam was quick to mention certain individuals who impressed him. 

“I thought the best forward was Sam Powell. He was closely followed by Liam Farrell and Willie Isa. Joe Bullock has found another level, and Ethan Havard and Liam Byrne are two 19-year-old boys who are applying their trade at the moment. 

Powell in action on Sunday.

“There’s plenty of potential and it’s great that we’ve got through this injury-free, with now a week to recover. We were without seven players, so there’s a lot of experience still to come in. 

“I want to reward these players here and I want to say thank you to the lads who played and played some big minutes.”

It was a milestone evening for second-row Liam Farrell, who went over for his 100th try for the Club, whilst playing the game as captain.

“It’s outstanding,” Lam said. “We talked about it at our captain’s run. The boys are really happy he’s done that. He was our captain for the game, and it’s all worked out for him. We’re really pleased for him.”

After receiving a buy to the Quarter Finals stage of the Coral Challenge Cup, the Warriors now have a week off to rest and recover, with their next game scheduled for 30th August against Catalans Dragons. 

When asked about his team’s plans for the next week, Lam said: “We’ll do our post-match recovery for the next two days and then train really hard for the rest of the week. 

“No club has got the 100 per cent answer on how to prepare for all of this with the current Covid-19 situation. 

“We didn’t want to come out at 100 miles an hour and then phase off towards the end of the year. We wanted to come out and build slowly and I think we’ve got that part right. 

“We’ve got to make sure we manage the players and the recovery is really important.”

Fans in the Stands
Sunday 16 August 2020