Warriors win banishes Bulls hopes
Wigan and Sam Tomkins warmed up for Wembley in sparkling fashion as the Warriors cruised to an 11th successive win with a 60-12 victory over Bradford Bulls.
The exciting England full-back mesmerised the Bradford defence with his trademark runs and scored two of his side's 12 tries as the Super League champions moved three points clear of Warrington while removing the Bulls' mathematical chances of making the play-offs.
Wigan's victory would have been even more emphatic but for an off day by goalkicker Pat Richards, who succeeded with just six of his 12 attempts but made amends with a hat-trick of tries. George Carmont and Josh Charnley claimed two tries each for the Warriors with additions from Ryan Hoffman, Sean O'Loughlin and Harrison Hansen, while Craig Kopczak and John Bateman crossed over for the Bulls.
While the Warriors remain firmly on course to complete the double, a fifth defeat in their last six matches means the Bulls, Grand Finalists five years in a row up to 2005, have missed out on the top eight in each of the last three years.
Winger Danny Williams scored a hat-trick to keep his Salford side's flickering play-off hopes alive as they recorded a 24-18 victory over Huddersfield which dented the Giants' top-four ambitions in the process.
Man of the match Williams has now scored five tries in only four games for the Reds, who responded to new coach Matt Parish's recent criticism with an impressive show.
Daniel Holdsworth also crossed over for home side while Jermaine McGillvary, Lee Gilmour and David Fa'alogo scored for the Giants.
