In the end, this was simply a familiar result with a familiar feeling attached to it. Wigan will play in the Super League Grand Final for a record-equalling 11th time after eliminating Hull FC with a performance littered with the characteristics we have come to expect from them in recent years. Defensive grit? Check. Tries at key moments? Check. Big individual performances? Without question. Yes, this play-off semi-final did perhaps swing on one moment in the first half but after that Wigan went through the gears. Hull, who had done so well to get to within a game of next Friday’s Grand Final, really had no answer. Whether it is St Helens or Catalans who join Wigan in the final, they will arrive as underdogs. With the Man of Steel-elect Bevan French outstanding again at fullback, Zak Hardaker showing signs of the form that saw him win the award five years ago and their defensive effort typically outstanding, this feels like a side who will be tough to beat. “We’ve got it together at the right part of the season and I’m so pleased for everyone,” Adrian Lam, the Wigan coach, said. “I felt we were never going to be broken defensively.” If there are any regrets for Hull, whose wait for a first Grand Final since 2006 goes on, then it would be the impact of Josh Griffin’s attempt to antagonise the teenage Wigan forward Oliver Partington by patting him on the head during a break in play. At that stage, Hull were leading 2-0 and were certainly playing with enough spirit to suggest they could cause problems, but when Griffin was penalised, it swung the contest in Wigan’s favour. “I’d say it was the big turning point,” the Hull interim coach, Andy Last, said. “There were some harsh calls. We’d built some pressure and then they went and scored. Key moments like that can prove costly.” Within two minutes, Hull were behind when Joe Burgess crossed in the corner. Shortly after, a superb team move started and finished by Harry Smith made it 12-2, before a drop goal from the boot of the teenage half-back. Hull had to score first after half-time but it was perhaps inevitable Wigan would go further ahead when the outstanding French sent Hardaker away, with his conversion making it 19-2. And that, even with half an hour remaining, felt like it was the end of the semi-final as a contest and the end of Last’s interim reign. He now waits to discover who will be the club’s next permanent coach. French quashed any thoughts of a Hull comeback when he superbly denied Marc Sneyd a try, before sending Jake Bibby across and then claiming a try of his own in the final seconds.