KAIDE Ellis urged Wigan Warriors to up their defensive game after returning to winning ways in the Betfred Super League with a 28-16 win at home to Catalans Dragons.
The reigning champions went on a nine-game winning run between March 30 and June 14, but their six games since then have seen them win three and lose three to slip behind leaders Hull KR.
Those losses included a 32-12 defeat at home to Hull FC in Round 19 and although Ellis was pleased to respond to that loss in Round 20, the loose forward was frustrated with the second-half tries Wigan conceded against the Dragons.
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— Betfred Super League (@SuperLeague) July 25, 2025
“It was a simple gameplan and that’s a perfect example of what you can do when you commit to it and stay disciplined,” Ellis told BBC Five Live Sports Extra.
“Towards the back end when we had to shut out, that’s probably something we’re not good at and there were a couple of late tries sneaking in, but the game was done.
“It is a disappointing because we pride ourselves on being a good defensive team and sometimes it isn’t good enough.
“You can probably make excuses, but we need to click.”
Wigan have slipped to the fourth-best average points conceded per game record in Super League this year from third in 2025, with that number going up from 12.52 to 14.15.
They were 16-0 up against Catalans at half time, but second-half tries from Cesar Rouge, Tommy Makinson and Alrix da Costa helped make the final score closer for the visitors.
Ellis played a significant role in Wigan’s defensive effort against the French side with 30 tackles, just behind prop Ethan Havard (32) and fellow back row Liam Farrell (33), per Stats Perform.
He hopes defensive improvements will allow the likes of Bevan French and Jai Field to excel when they return after the bye week.
“The best of us is when we frontload our defence, put the ball in the corner, get off our line and be disciplined,” Ellis said.
“The attack and flair we have, if we get the ball back in good areas then we can throw the ball around and show what we can do.
“The start didn’t help us, I was a bit worried there and thought it was going to be the same as last week, but we dug deep.
“We’re in a good spot, we’ll get a few of the crew back and we’ll be okay.”