WANE’S BATTLE CRY FOR GRAND FINAL
Emotional goodbye
SHAUN WANE is as hard as nails but expect the Wigan coach to be a blubbering wreck if he bows out as a winner this evening.
The Super League Grand Final at a raucous Old Trafford is always an occasion to increase the heartbeat.
That Wane’s 30-year association with his beloved hometown club will end at the final hooter adds further intrigue to this year’s title decider. Sam Tomkins, John Bateman and Ryan Sutton are also departing along with key backroom staff Matty Peet and Mark Bitcon.
The sight of Wane in tears, cradling his young grandson Teddy, after last week’s play-off semi-final win against Castleford said much for the raw emotion swirling around the Wigan camp right now.
There is a collective desire and indeed a desperation to mark the end of an era by being crowned Super League champions. In the way stand big-spending Warrington, the nearly men whose last championship came in 1955.
Wane, a born and bred Wiganer raised on one of the town’s toughest council estates, is taking a part-time job with the Scottish Rugby Union. For a man who claims to work “eight days a week” at Wigan and has no experience of the 15-man code, the move has raised eyebrows.
Wane, 54, has served Wigan as a gnarled prop forward, scout, volunteer, junior coach, academy coach, assistant coach and for the past seven years as head coach.
“The thought of getting up on Sunday and no longer being in charge of Wigan is upsetting,” said Wane. “Seeing someone else there instead next season will be terrible and I’m not looking forward to it.
“Thirty years is a long time and I was brought up 200 metres from Central Park, so it’s in my blood. I’m a league man and coaching Wigan is the best job in the world but it was my call and I resigned for personal reasons, so I’m just going to have to tough it out.
“It feels like the right time for me to do something else. I’ll still go to watch Wigan but no one will see me at the ground. I’ll just be having a pint with my mates enjoying the game like everyone else.
“I don’t cry much but I have got upset recently. There will be some enjoyable tears if we beat Warrington.”
Wane, who this week passed on tips to Steven Gerrard and Peter Schmeichel during their visit to Wigan’s training ground as part of their UEFA Pro Licence qualification, has won two Grand Finals, a Challenge Cup and a World Club Challenge during his time at the helm.
Scrum-half Thomas Leuluai said: “I think because he’s a local guy and not from Australia, Shaun’s record gets overlooked. Consider the amount of young players he has brought through as well and he will blow other coaches off the park.
“We know what a fantastic job he has done and one of my big motivators at Old Trafford is to do it for him. He’s been crying a lot recently, which has surprised me, and I can’t imagine what he will be like if we win. We’ve enjoyed teasing him about it. He’s our coach, but he’s also our mate.”
Warrington boss Steve Price has performed a fine job in his debut season in charge, guiding them to both finals.
They failed to lift the Challenge Cup after losing to Catalans at Wembley but history now beckons as the Wolves chase a first league title in 63 years. Price has immersed himself in his adopted hometown and its working-class heart.
The 40-year-old Australian said: “I live right among the supporters and I think it’s important to do that because they live and breathe Warrington Wolves.
“About five times a day I get reminded of the fact we haven’t been champions since 1955. To bury that hoodoo, especially having lost at Wembley, would be unreal for the town and our supporters.”