Eckersley: Pride in defence
Wigan Warriors Winger Zach Eckersley praised the defence of the team as the Cherry & Whites ran out 48-0 winners against Catalans Dragons at Stade Gilbert Brutus on Saturday evening.
Eckersley was welcomed back to the starting line-up after leaving the field on a stretched against Leigh Leopards last time out. The winger was given the all clear following some scan and was a welcome inclusion to Matt Peet’s starting line-up in the South of France.
Speaking on his week following the Leopards game, Eckersley said: “All the medical staff and coaching staff have looked after me this week and the physios. Obviously in the moment it was scary, but more scary for your family than yourself because you know how you feel yourself – seeing your son or grandson leave the field and it doesn’t look great must be a scary feeling, but obviously the medical staff were great and I can’t thank them enough for looking after me.”
He added: “Thankfully I had some scans and it was good news so this week I’ve been really looked after and I was ready to get back on the training field.”
The Warriors chalked up eight unanswered tries in the victory, with the winger proud of the nil: “We worked a lot on the defence this week, and prioritising defence that’s what we do as a team – it was great to keep the clean sheet today.
“We pride ourselves as a club on the defensive work we do as a team and covering for each other and stuff like that. Even when we played well in attack, the defence is the most important thing in terms of the group. I feel like we worked hard for each other today as a team.
“The season is long and we don’t get ahead of ourselves, but it’s obviously nice to be getting the wins and we just keep working on that defence and hopefully the wins will keep going.”
Speaking on the trip to Perpignan, the winger said: “It’s been great, we had the day off yesterday and AK [Adam Keighran] was playing for Catalan the other year, he knows a few good options for a coffee and stuff like that so he took the lads around them.
“We’re a tight knit group as it is, but the more time we can get together the better. We’ve got a long away run now, so we’re going to be spending a lot of time together as a team. It’s good, we’re all good mates, so yeah, it’s been a good weekend all round.”
Zach Eckersley is sponsored by John Pye Auctions.
