LIAM Marshall admits just hearing Sam Tomkins again can bring more out of him.
And he sees no reason why the ‘written off’ champions cannot go all the way to defending their title.
Full-back Tomkins returned with a bang after nine months out injured, by kicking the clinching drop goal at Warrington to book a Challenge Cup semi-final spot.
But it is not so much the actions the likes of him and fellow returnee John Bateman bring that improves the likes of him, but the words.
Winger Marshall said: “It was a tough couple of weeks but we’ve got a lot of players back and that’s made training a lot better, we just need to kick on now.
“The class that Sam and John bring is just different. Even the talk that Sam brings without even touching the ball steps things up and obviously John is one of the best around, so he’s someone you want on the inside of you.
“In the game, some things need to be said and I don’t hold any grudges. We’ve not even spoken about what happened in the game and that’s the sort of thing I want.
“If I get any input from Sam, it’s positive. That’s the sort of player you want to be hearing stuff from and giving you the chat. That can only help you improve in the future.”
Anthony Gelling misses tonight’s match at Huddersfield after being one of six players to return to Shaun Wane’s side last week but knee injury victim Dom Manfredi is not far off a comeback.
That will mean Marshall is fighting for his place, even though he has scored 20 tries in 18 games, but he is ready for the battle – and feels that could help propel them towards glory.
The 21-year-old added: “Of course I was nervous about my place before Warrington.
“Knowing everyone was back, it was just a matter of training well and seeing what side was picked. Shaun put his faith in me and hopefully I did a good enough job to keep my place this week.
“It’s a healthy competition in training now with players coming back. There’s four wingers for two places and Dom still to come back but it’s what you want.
“You know that if your standards drop, Shaun isn’t afraid to get rid of you. There’s that healthy competition but we’re all mates! That’s probably good, it’s fun but competitive at the same time.
“I had a look at the table and our next few fixtures the other day – we know what we need to do and it’s exciting.
“Maybe some people have written us off already and it’s backs against the wall but that’s the way Wigan do it, isn’t it?
“It’s similar to last year, people didn’t think we were having a good season and we went on to win the Grand Final.
“Now we’re still in the Challenge Cup and the Grand Final is still what we’re aiming for. There’s maybe not as much pressure but we know what we need to do to get there.”
Leave a comment