Chance to improve: Gildart

[josie andrews]

Oliver Gildart looks ahead to Wigan Warriors next game against Wakefield Trinity at the Mobile Rocket Stadium.

The centre is expecting a ‘tough’ test against Chris Chester’s side.

Gildart: “We need to stick to our game plan.”

Oliver Gildart knows that Wigan Warriors will face a ‘tough’ test when they head to West Yorkshire to face Wakefield Trinity.

In three previous trips to the Mobile Rocket Stadium, the Warriors have failed to come away with a victory.

Despite the recent poor form of their opponents, Gildart believes Wigan will still face a challenge if they want the two points.

“We’ve had some really big defeats in the past few seasons, so we need to turn those results around and give them a good game.”

He adds, “It is a really tough place to go to because they go to an extra level at home, but we are confident of winning if we can stick to our game plan.”

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The centre believes that the different motivations of the two teams will make for a good encounter.

“Their will be two different mind sets; they want to get out of a relegation battle, and we want to finish as high as we can. Their form isn’t great, but they’ve got certain individuals who will test us.”

The last time Adrian Lam’s side visited Wakefield, the sides were in contrasting positions in the Betfred Super League table.

Gildart states he is proud of the ‘hard work’ of the team to change the Warriors’ fortunes to finish the campaign strongly.

“We were in a dark place, but it was never in doubt that we could get back up there, we were doing the right things in training, but it just wasn’t clicking on the field. It has taken a lot of hard work from everybody, but we still need to get to the next level and get a trophy.”

Both sides enter Sunday’s game fresh after a week off from Betfred Super League action.

The centre believes that the Warriors have utilised the extra time in training to take another step forward.

“Some people may have had a week off, but we have been grafting in training. We saw this time as a chance for us to get better and improve further.”

The 23-year-old says there was a good atmosphere amongst the squad heading into the break, following their 20-6 victory over Warrington Wolves at the DW Stadium.

“They had beaten us three times this year, so it was good to get one over on them. It was good to put in complete performance and show that we have the tools to beat them.”

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Gildart in action vs Wakefield back in April.

Gildart states that the main focus for the next few weeks will be rugby and everything else will be pushed to the side.

“It is the business end of the year, and your life changes, everything is on hold apart from rugby. We need to make sure we are doing all the one percenter’s in order to make it a big end to the year.”

This season have seen multiple young players making the step up to the first team.

“It freshens up the team,” says Gildart. “The young lads have come in and done a great job, and I am buzzing to see them improve. They have taken a lot of experience from it and they will only get better in years to come.”

The centre says the aim for the club is to finish the regular season with three strong victories as they head into the playoffs.

“We want to make our home a fortress to go onto the next level, and get three good wins in order to cement second place


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