Wigan set out a strong team including the return of Michael McIlorum from suspension with former Warriors Wayne Godwin and Karl Pryce lining up for Dewsbury. As expected, Wigan began the better of the two sides and took the lead after only five minutes when a nice exchange between Green and O'Loughlin saw the Wigan captain find Burgess out wide and he went over for the opening try. Smith kicked from long range for a 0-6 lead.
Wigan were soon into double figures when Burgess latched on to a kick from Green to score his second try and again Smith converted to make it 0-12 and put Wigan in control. Dewsbury improved but a number of penalties for both sides damaged the flow of the game but Wigan were dealt what could be a massive blow in the 21st minute as Charnley stayed down after an attempt to recover the ball and was carried off by both Club Doctors with an injury that could rule him out until at least May.
The injury saw Sarginson move out to the wing and Hughes come into the centre, Dewsbury came close to their first score as they pressured the Wigan line and forced a goal-line dropout. Pryce had the try line in sight but was tackled into touch by the strong Wigan defence, minutes later Dewsbury crossed the try line only to have the score chalked off after a discussion between the officials.
Wigan forced a goal-line dropout as they looked to extend the lead but a knock on by Pettybourne gave Dewsbury the ball and they forced Wigan to dropout but failed to turn the advantage into a try. Wigan had one last chance before the interval when Hampshire collected a Thackeray kick and raced clear but was tackled by the last line of the defence in the form of Hyde at the sounding of the hooter.
Dewsbury got themselves off the mark four minutes into the second half after a nice passing play saw Morton go over for a try and Hemingway converted successfully to make it 6-12 but Wigan were soon 6-16 up when Green and Thornley combined to find Burgess who sealed his hat-trick with a try in the corner but Smith missed the conversion.
Dewsbury came close to an quick response but Grady was tackled into touch as he went over the try line by Thornley and within minutes, Wigan went further in front as a Hampshire picked out Sarginson and the stand-in winger went over for the try which Smith converted for 6-22.
Wigan forced a dropout from the restart and took advantage as Burgess scored his fourth try, his second quadruple of the season and Smith converted well for a 6-28 lead. Dewsbury needed to score next to have any hope of pulling off a shock against the holders but their hopes all but evaporated when Wigan reached 30 points in the 65th minute when Thornley scored a try and Smith kicked his fifth conversion for 6-34.
After a good first 50 minutes, Dewsbury were seeing the main reason why Wigan are the defending champions as the lead was extended even further as Taylor found Smith and the half-back went in for the try and successfully converted to take his tally to 16 points and put Wigan to 6-40.
The away fans were celebrating again in the 70th minute as Williams scored harping to his first ever Wigan try scored in the same round last year against Leigh and with Smith having gone off, he converted his own try for a 6-46 lead.
One of the clear differences between the Super League and the lower divisions is the full-time/part-time divide and it became even clearer as Wigan were in again as Thornley scored his second try and Williams kicked a second conversion for a 6-52 lead. The win was completed with two minutes to go when Green got his name on the scoreboard with a try and Williams stepped up to convert for a third time to make it 6-58.
A strong win in the end for Wigan but Dewsbury played their part and at times didn't look like a Championship side, it was a pleasure to visit the Tetley's stadium as the welcome and setup was brilliant and would relish a future visit.
Predictions wise, my pick of a 60-6 win for Wigan was very close even if it was a spur of the moment guess.
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