Rock-bottom Wigan crashed again and are now an alarming five points adrift at the foot of the engage Super League table after suffering their ninth defeat from the opening 10 games.

The injury-hit Warriors - missing six first-choice players through injury and suspension - are still waiting to hear whether Bradford coach Brian Noble is prepared to accept the challenge and take over the JJB hotseat from the sacked Ian Millward.

The Warriors were left red-faced as Harlequins ruthlessly exploited flimsy defence to run up a 26-8 half-time lead.

Half-back Luke Dorn set the mood after just three minutes when teenage winger Chris Ashton was beaten by the bounce from Thomas Leuluai's deep kick and the Aussie star snapped it up to touch down.

Hooker Chad Randall sent in Matt Gafa for the second with a peach of a pass before Dorn struck again, skipping past Dennis Moran and racing over from 35 metres to claim his second.

An Ashton break set up a rare Wigan raid and full-back Moran scampered over after regathering the ball after it had been plucked from his grasp.

Normal service was resumed when Randall produced another superb long pass for Rikki Sheriffe to squeeze in at the corner.

Dorn looked to be heading for a hat-trick from an interception but was pulled back for offside, and the Warriors struck again when Jordan James touched down from Sean O'Loughlin's measured kick to the line.

But Harlequins prop David Mills forced his way in for their fifth try just before the break and within two minutes of the restart, they were celebrating again when centre Tyrone Smith brushed off the tackle from Tim Jonkers.

Wigan's luck was out when Brett Dallas lost the ball over the line but skipper O'Loughlin provided a glimmer of hope when Micky Higham sent him racing in for the Warriors' third try.

To add to Wigan's worries, O'Loughlin was placed on report for a suspect tackle on Mark Tookey five minutes from time, and a late consolation try from Kevin Brown did not disguise the fact that Wigan need strong, new leadership, and quickly.