Rugby League - Wane: We were well below our best

The Warriors are five points behind Huddersfield with two games to play and thus cannot take the league leader’s shield, but silverware does beckon next weekend.

They are overwhelming favourites to beat Hull at Wembley in the Challenge Cup Final and, away from this loss, can rejoice at Sam Tomkins’ successful completion of 80 minutes following injury.

The star full-back has been in and out all summer but now looks a good bet to make next week’s game.

“It was good to have Sam back this week, he’ll be good this (coming) week,” Wane said.

“Obviously next week is a massive game for us and it will be a different challenge for our players but it is one we’re looking forward to immensely.”

Wane was unhappy at the way the game unfolded tonight, accusing the officials of allowing it to be played at a slow pace.

“We were well below our best today, that was the slowest game of rugby league I’ve ever seen in all my career, which is disappointing, but it was allowed to be that way by the officials,” he added.

“It was unbelievably slow, but we turned over too much ball, we didn’t complete our sets and our wrestle was poor. We were giving penalties away and we were putting ourselves under the pump all the time.

“Catalan attacked well, but I think they had the majority of the ball, and when we did have the ball, we turned the ball over early in the sets, so it wasn’t like having a full set. That is the important thing. We needed to get to the end of our sets but we couldn’t do that.”

There was no sadness in the Catalan camp, with the French side having overcome a shocking mid-season to secure their place in the play-offs.

They won at Bradford last week and now after this win, the Bulls cannot take their place in the top eight.

Coach Laurent Frayssinous said: “I’m very happy, especially with the way we built the win today. In big games what wins you games is defence, defence and more defence and today we saw that we can defend in a big game.

“The boys can be proud of their performance today and especially their defence. At one point we defended 11 sets in our 20-metre zone and a team like Wigan with the attacking players they have didn’t score against us until one minute before half-time. That is a big effort from us.”

The challenge for Frayssinous is now a simple one.

“We have to play games like that in the play-offs, that kind of game, where our defence will win us the games,” he added.

“That was a very good result for us today and a good stepping stone now towards the end of the season.”

Rugby League - Wane: We were well below our best