St Helens coach Paul Wellens believes his side rediscovered their identity after disappointing back-to-back defeats against Salford and Castleford.
Wellens reserved particular praise for teenage full-back Harry Robertson, who excelled on his senior debut after the decision to drop half-back Lewis Dodd and move Jack Welsby up from his customary position at the back.
“Obviously the lads are disappointed that they’ve lost a game, but in terms of the mental attitude and how you approach big games, I thought we got everything we needed from the group today,” said Wellens.
“A lot of us have been questioned in recent weeks and I think that was the perfect answer tonight in terms of how committed these players are to make this club successful.
“These games are always settled by fine margins but nobody who saw that tonight will question anybody’s effort and that should be a blueprint for moving forward. We reconnected with who we are tonight.”
Robertson looked understandably nervous in the early stages but grew into the game as it went on and began to worry the Wigan line in the later stages.
Wellens added: “It’s difficult to play against a kicking game like that of Harry Smith and even some of the most experienced full-backs can make errors, but Harry’s all-round game tonight was excellent.
“You sometimes see on a debut that if a young player makes an error they shy away. But he’s like Jack Welsby in that respect, Jack keeps going after making an error. Golfers say don’t take your divot with you and he kept going all night.