Marshall: Keep form rolling
- Liam Marshall previews Saturday’s Betfred Super League Round 23 game against Catalans Dragons.
- Marshall: “They’ve got a lot of star quality and we’ve spoken about that a bit this week but we’re hoping we can go over there and nullify that to get a good result.”
- Read our Match Preview ahead of the game HERE.
Liam Marshall believes momentum is key going into the final games of the regular Betfred Super League season, with the Warriors currently sitting in second spot.
Reflecting on the Round 22 golden point victory over Hull FC, he said: “It was a bit of a strange one last week, we got the win in the end in pretty tough conditions. There was some unforced errors from us, maybe overplaying our hand a little bit when we got down their end in the wet conditions.
“There’s some lessons to be learnt but the way we just kept grinding it out, defensively we were pretty good – we conceded two tries off kicks but from open play and particularly in the second half our defence kept us in the game by limiting their territory. Maybe on another night we would have scored some more points but we managed to get over the line and obviously Harry’s drop goal at the end was a highlight.”
Looking ahead to this week’s trip to Perpignan to face table toppers Catalans Dragons, Marshall said: “Preparations have been good. Over the last couple of weeks training has been ramped up intensity wise, not just physically but also mentally to make sure we’re attacking and making the most out of every session that we’ve got.
“Going over to Catalans is always a tough one as the heat plays a factor and they’re obviously a great side who have been going very well this season and are deservedly at the top. They’re the standard this year, but we’re hoping we can go over there, get a result, and test ourselves against a team that has been performing the best in the competition all year.”
Marshall added: “They have a big, physical forward pack and a lot of talented outside backs – both of their wingers are of top quality, Tom Johnstone has been great for them this year, as well as Tom Davies. Sam Tomkins has been a great player for Wigan, a great player for Catalans and a great player for Super League altogether so I’m sure he’ll be wanting to put in a good performance in what could be his final game against Wigan before he retires.
“They’ve got a lot of star quality and we’ve spoken about that a bit this week but we’re hoping we can go over there and nullify that to get a good result.”
Marshall, who currently sits top of his sides try-scoring charts with 19 this season, added: “Part of my job is to put the ball down at the end of those nice moves and hopefully I can carry on and score a few more going into the back end of the year – it’s more about the team and what I can do for the team as well. Those individual accolades do come as a winger but they’re not something I’ll necessarily be disappointed about as long as the team’s doing well.”
Speaking on his wing/centre partnership with Jake Wardle, he said: “From the first couple of weeks of pre-season I knew that Jake and I would strike up a good partnership and I feel like we’re getting better each week. It’s been good to get a nice run of games together and to learn from one another. I think we’ve gelled quite well and hopefully it’s something we can take forward into the final stages of the season.”
Finally, Marshall stressed Wigan’s aims going into the closing rounds of the competition: “We’re chasing for as high a placed finish as we possibly can and even try and get that top spot. We just have to get that form rolling into the back end now, it can be a massive momentum shift if you can knock off a few good wins in a row going into the play-offs and hopefully we can set our sights on a date at Old Trafford.
“Having said that, there’s still a lot of time between now and then and we know that if we don’t perform we’ll not be in those big games so it’s about keeping form up, getting the results together and being in the big games come October.”
See previews with Matt Peet and Liam Farrell ahead of Saturday’s trip to Catalans on Wigan TV HERE.
