Marshall on Huddersfield victory
- Liam Marshall gave his post-match thoughts after scoring a hat-trick to help Wigan Warriors defeat Huddersfield Giants in the Betfred Super League.
- Marshall: “You can’t ever complain about scoring tries for Wigan.”
- FT | Wigan Warriors 30 – 16 Huddersfield Giants
Warriors Winger Liam Marshall reflected on a hard fought Betfred Super League victory at home to Huddersfield Giants on Friday evening.
Marshall scored another hat-trick for the Club, his second against Huddersfield, giving credit to his teammates who gave a helping hand in his Man of the Match performance: “You can’t ever complain about scoring tries for Wigan”, said Marshall.
“Just a big credit to the lads inside, they put it on a plate for me tonight, they were pretty easy finishes, so it’s probably a massive plaudit to them when you get a lot of chances to score and luckily I got three tonight. Hopefully I can keep getting some more as the year goes on.”
Centre Jake Wardle was one of those players on the inside who played his part, assisting two of Marshall’s three tries on the night: “He’s a real classy player. I think since he came into the Club you could tell he was going to bring a lot to us on that left edge, and we’ve got a partnership together that we always want to keep improving”, added Marshall.
“There’s probably some things that we’d be disappointed with that we need to fix up in defence tonight, but I think going forward in attack we work pretty well. We’re getting to know each other on and off the field which is good and it only helps the performances.”
The Warriors were tasked with a quick turnaround back to Betfred Super League action, having beaten Penrith Panthers in an intense World Club Challenge game the previous weekend.
Marshall feels his side gave maximum effort, which paid off in the end: “I think the massive challenge this week was backing up last weekend – such a high, the celebrations, there’s probably a million and one excuses we could’ve used to not turn up tonight.
“But that’s one thing we spoke about all week is making sure we came with the right attitude and the right endeavour, and I think those things couldn’t be questioned tonight – I think maybe some of our skill and application in a few bits were slightly off, but as long as we’re not questioning our effort I’m not too worried.”
That task was made even more difficult by a resilient Huddersfield Giants side, who refused to give up until the very end. Despite being a man and 12 points down after 18 minutes, Ian Watson’s team kept the game tight in the second half, scoring three tries on the night.
“I think they’re a classy side – well coached and well drilled, we knew what they were going to bring and they never let up”, said Marshall. “I think at the start of the game another team would’ve maybe folded away, but they didn’t and fair play to them. It was good to get the win.”
The Warriors were backed by over 15 thousand supporters in the DW Stadium, less than a week after selling out the ground for the Betfred World Club Challenge. Marshall was full of praise for the Wigan fans, who he thinks the club has created a great relationship with on and off the field: “A massive credit to the fans to turning up, but also we just want to thank them for how they’ve bought into us in the last couple of years.
“I think we’ve engaged with them more than we’ve done in the past and it goes both ways – if we’re a bit more approachable and accessible then you get bigger crowds and you get more support and it does help in the big games.”
He added: “After last weekend’s sell out, to bring 15 thousand on a night like this is incredible. I know times are hard for some people to be able to turn up and support your hometown team, and we’ll never not appreciate that. A massive respect to them.”
By Harvey Orgill.
Liam Marshall is sponsored by Metro Rod Lancashire.
Watch more post match reactions following the victory on Wigan TV HERE.
