Huddersfield Giants caretaker coach Luke Robinson was full of praise for his former club Wigan Warriors following their Super League Round 20 encounter, singling out Jake Wardle following his game-changing score that saw his side go on to claim a 28-14 victory.
Robinson labelled 25-year-old Wardle as ‘the best English centre’ in Super League following his individual brilliance, scoring a length-of-the-field try to shift the game’s momentum in the second half.
The Giants had kept the hosts scoreless by half-time with an 8-0 advantage thanks to a try from former Wigan centre Jake Bibby, but the Warriors managed to turn the game to bounce back to winning ways with further points from Jai Field, Ryan Hampshire and Zach Eckersley, while Adam Keighran kicked six from six.
“The effort and the desire couldn’t be questioned. I thought we tried really hard and we worked really hard for each other,” Robinson said.
“There was a momentum shift in that second half with Jake Wardle, it infuriates me that he’s playing against us because I think he’s the best English centre in the competition at the moment.
“He was in my academy, and had been out for about two years and in his first game back, he scored four or five tries.
“I thought we were on top of them in that first half so I think if we carried on in that vein, we would have potentially gone on and done something but unfortunately that breakaway try was a bit of a killer.”
As well as his four-pointer, superstar full-back Field also produced a try-saving tackle on Bibby in the opening 40 on his return to action, having missed six games since the Challenge Cup Final in June due to a hamstring injury.
“Wigan are a quality side. When I saw Jai Field was back I thought ‘Oh’. He’s just got speed to burn and put him and Jake Wardle together, they can turn a game in an instant,” former Wigan half-back Robinson continued.
“We let ourselves down in certain areas. We put ourselves under too much pressure and when you give field position to a quality team like Wigan, eventually they’ll punish you.”
