Usually on a mid-march afternoon, we would be enjoying quality rugby in glorious sunshine but a heavy snowfall had curtailed that despite the wonderful views that it provides.
The game is ON as the pitch is fine and the surrounding area is clear, this fixture is always a strange one as it can be called a mini derby as a lot of the Widnes side are former Warriors players so like coming home for them.
One notable absentee from the team will be Gareth Hock, denied the chance to upset his parent club due to rules in his loan deal but Widnes still have a pack that can threaten as we all saw last year when they performed an amazing comeback to secure victory at the Stobart stadium last March in a 37-36 win after being 18-0 down.
Wigan did get revenge in a crushing 54-12 win at the DW in June and went on to top the league while Widnes finished at the lower end of the table.
This season, Wigan have had mixed form but still sit fourth with a win today taking them to second and one point off the top and Widnes are 11th but with two wins against Hull and London and a narrow defeat to St Helens will give them confidence ahead of a tough week starting with Wigan today before hosting Warrington on Good Friday.
Squads
Wigan: Burke, Charnley, Crosby, Farrell, Flower, Goulding, Green, Hughes, Lloyd, McIlorum, O'Loughlin, Powell, Richards, Smith, Taylor, Thornley, L Tomkins, S Tomkins, Tuson.
Widnes: Ah Van, Allen, Briscoe, Cahill, Clarke, Cross, ,Dean, Flynn, Gerrard, Hanbury, Isa, Joseph, Kavanagh, Leuluai, Mellor, O'Carroll, Pickersgill, White, Winterstein.
Last years upset and the injuries aside, I still think Wigan will secure a comfortable win so I predict Wigan 40 Widnes 12.
The game is ON as the pitch is fine and the surrounding area is clear, this fixture is always a strange one as it can be called a mini derby as a lot of the Widnes side are former Warriors players so like coming home for them.
One notable absentee from the team will be Gareth Hock, denied the chance to upset his parent club due to rules in his loan deal but Widnes still have a pack that can threaten as we all saw last year when they performed an amazing comeback to secure victory at the Stobart stadium last March in a 37-36 win after being 18-0 down.
Wigan did get revenge in a crushing 54-12 win at the DW in June and went on to top the league while Widnes finished at the lower end of the table.
This season, Wigan have had mixed form but still sit fourth with a win today taking them to second and one point off the top and Widnes are 11th but with two wins against Hull and London and a narrow defeat to St Helens will give them confidence ahead of a tough week starting with Wigan today before hosting Warrington on Good Friday.
Squads
Wigan: Burke, Charnley, Crosby, Farrell, Flower, Goulding, Green, Hughes, Lloyd, McIlorum, O'Loughlin, Powell, Richards, Smith, Taylor, Thornley, L Tomkins, S Tomkins, Tuson.
Widnes: Ah Van, Allen, Briscoe, Cahill, Clarke, Cross, ,Dean, Flynn, Gerrard, Hanbury, Isa, Joseph, Kavanagh, Leuluai, Mellor, O'Carroll, Pickersgill, White, Winterstein.
Last years upset and the injuries aside, I still think Wigan will secure a comfortable win so I predict Wigan 40 Widnes 12.
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