| Betfred Super League |
|---|
| Wigan Warriors (24) 52 |
| Tries: Farrell 2, Marshall 3, Hardaker, Williams, Gildart, Burgess Goals: Hardaker 8 |
| Hull KR (6) 10 |
| Tries: Quinlan 2 Goals: Shaw |
Liam Marshall led a Wigan rout against bottom side Hull KR with a hat-trick of tries.
Liam Farrell also went over twice and Zak Hardaker added a try to his eight successful kicks as fourth-placed Warriors closed to within two points of third-placed Hull FC.
Adam Quinlan bagged a brace for Rovers but his side were well beaten.
George Williams, Oliver Gildart and Joe Burgess also scored for the hosts.
Wigan burst from the blocks and opened the scoring inside five minutes when Burgess burst down the left and passed inside for Liam Farrell to go over, with Hardaker kicking the extras.
Hardaker slotted a penalty goal to make it 8-0 but Rovers hit back immediately with a Quinlan try, converted by Ryan Shaw.
That made it 8-6 but Wigan soon extended their lead again when Hardaker set up Marshall for a try before kicking the conversion, and it was 18-6 when Marshall found a gap for his second try.
They were reduced to 12 men when Romain Navarrete was sin-binned for a dangerous tackle on Weller Hauraki but they survived the 10-minute period unscathed and punished Rovers a minute after Navarrete’s return when Hardaker collected a Williams kick and scored before adding the extras.
It was 28-6 on 54 minutes when Marshall completed his hat-trick after a powerful break by Joe Bullock, and 34-6 moments later when Hardaker converted a solo try from Williams.
Farrell heaped further misery on Rovers when he grabbed his second try and Hardaker converted, and Gildart then went over with Hardaker converting to make it 46-6.
There was no let-up from Wigan, who scored again through Burgess on the left flank – with Hardaker again adding the extras – before Quinlan grabbed a late consolation for Rovers with his second try of the game.
Wigan head coach Adrian Lam told BBC Radio Manchester:
“It was fantastic – it was good as a coach because we’ve been building to that and we haven’t really blown a team away like tonight, with all respect to Hull.
“There was some great attack and some absolutely tough defence as well.
“It’s just the beginning, so don’t get too excited about it all – I want to keep our feet grounded.”
Hull KR head coach Tony Smith told BBC Radio Humberside:
“I’d rather talk about Wigan. I thought they were fantastic. They were as good as I’ve seen this year.
“We allowed them to play that way and just didn’t get going early enough.
“We were trying to scramble our way back into the game and we did it a couple of times, not in terms of the scoreline but in terms of trying to arm-wrestle our way back in.
“It wasn’t pleasant to watch as a coach of KR or a spectator, no doubt, but the Wigan supporters got to see some good rugby league.”
Wigan: Hardaker, Marshall, Sarginson, Gildart, Burgess, Williams, Leuluai, Clubb, Powell, Navarrete, Isa, Farrell, Smithies.
Interchanges: Hankinson, Sammut, Partington, Bullock.
Hull KR: Quinlan, Shaw, Linnett, Crooks, Hall, Drinkwater, McGuire, Garbutt, Parcell, Johnson, Tomkins, Livett, Hauraki.
Interchanges: Atkin, Masoe, Mulhern, Murray.
