WOLVES have a good lead at Wigan at half time but they will know better than anyone that this game is not over yet.

Three converted tries in the final 14 minutes of the half made a mockery of how tight the opening stanza has been.

And nobody in the Warrington camp will need reminding that Wolves led 16-6 at half time in last year’s Grand Final at Old Trafford before Wigan exploited two Wolves injuries to be crowned champions 30-16.

Sometimes Wolves’ pressure on kickers works for them, sometimes against them, and Wigan got the fortune from one such instance in the build-up to taking the lead.

Matty Bowen’s clearance kick was charged down by Chris Hill but the ball fell favourably for Dan Sarginson to break away.

Although he was closed down, a few tackles later Sean O’Loughlin spotted Joel Monaghan offering Joe Burgess a few metres of space and the pass was good enough for the young Wigan winger to squeeze over in the corner.

Matty Smith was wide with the conversion from the touchline but Wigan were 4-0 ahead after six minutes.

Opposing wingers Burgess and Joel Monaghan both had scoring opportunities in the ensuing minutes as the action flowed from end to end at a frenetic pace. The touchline was the winner on both of those occasions.

Few scoring chances followed over the next 10 minutes, but it started to get messy around the ruck – holding down, ball steals and one instance of Sarginson hurling Stefan Ratchford off a tackle.

Although Phil Bentham initially penalised Ratchford for his reaction, the touch judge’s intervention resulted in a penalty for Wolves from which they called on the scoreboard operator.

Some lovely handling and dummy running on the right made space for Chris Bridge, who had drifted from the left, to put Joel Monaghan over for his 31st try of the season. Ratchford’s towering conversion put the visitors 6-4 in front after 27 minutes.

Wolves extended their lead with a lovely drill down the middle, albeit after Hill had got away with a knock-on while playing the ball.

From there, Micky Higham darted from dummy half with the move continued by Bridge and his lovely footwork left Liam Farrell tackling shadows before sending the supporting Richie Myler between the posts from 20 metres. Ratchford improved the try for 12-4 after 36 minutes.

And then with less than a minute left on the clock a set move from a scrum was perfectly executed.

On the second tackle, Myler kicked wide for Monaghan who was in acreas of space but racing against the dead-ball line. The Australian won by millimetres and Ratchford’s excellent touchline conversion sent Wolves in at the break 18-4 to the good.

Wolves: Matty Russell; Joel Monaghan, Stefan Ratchford, Chris Bridge, Rhys Evans; Gareth O’Brien, Richie Myler; Chris Hill, Michael Monaghan, Roy Asotasi, James Laithwaite, Trent Waterhouse, Ben Harrison. Subs: Micky Higham, Paul Wood, Ben Currie, Anthony England.

Wigan: Matty Bowen; Josh Charnley, Anthony Gelling, Dan Sarginson, Joe Burgess; Blake Green, Matty Smith; Ben Flower, Michael McIlorum, Dom Crosby, Joel Tomkins, Liam Farrell, Sean O’Loughlin. Subs: Sam Powell, Eddy Pettybourne, Tony Clubb, John Bateman.