Warriors take on Wire at DW with heavyweights in contrasting form

Two of Super League’s heavyweights will come toe-to-toe once more at the DW Stadium as Wigan Warriors welcome Warrington Wolves with both sides looking to push on up the table towards the front-runners.

Hosts Wigan sit fourth in the league after a campaign of ‘two halves’ thus far which has seen them win their opening seven matches before going on to lose their last three in a row. Defeats to Catalans Dragons, Hull Kingston Rovers and most recently Wakefield Trinity have curtailed the Warriors’ momentum meaning that a win is needed against Warrington to avoid slipping further down the table.

Losses aside, the last few weeks have been self-admittedly challenging for head coach Adrian Lam whose contract with the Warriors expires at the end of this season. Nothing has been decided about his future yet, but if he is to leave the club then he will want to go out on a high with a Grand Final win.

Meanwhile, Warrington sit a place higher in the league table in third and are on an impressive winning run. The Wire have won their last five Super League games including a 6-2 triumph away at reigning champions St Helens earlier this month and have recovered from a nervous start to the campaign.

A win away at Wigan could see them leapfrog the Saints and go second, however, a loss could see them exchange places with the Warriors and slip down the table.

Warrington’s last game saw them record a convincing 44-18 win over bottom of the table Leigh Centurions at the Halliwell Jones Stadium with some of their younger players shining through in a match where they never looked threatened.

Squads

Both sides have been plagued with players unavailable for selection in recent weeks due to various factors including injury, suspension and international call-ups.

Wigan had 11 players absent and fielded a youthful-looking team at Wakefield, though have been able to welcome back both Jackson Hastings and Liam Farrell who were on international duty last week involved in the mid-season international between England and the Combined Nations All-Stars.

Teammate John Bateman was also involved in that game but had to go off with an ankle injury and re-appeared from the dressing room on crutches, so will miss the clash with Warrington with an update expected soon. Elsewhere, Brad Singleton and Tony Clubb (both suspended) miss out as do Zak Hardaker (neck), Jai Field (hamstring) and Dom Manfredi (knee).

Winger Manfredi has announced that he will retire at the end of this campaign, while Bevan French will be unavailable for the rest of the season and has returned to Australia following surgery to repair a hamstring injury sustained last month.

As for Warrington, their squad is looking somewhat healthier. Jason Clark returns to Steve Price’s matchday squad having missed the last four games through injury.

Daryl Clark, Mike Cooper, Ben Currie, Joe Philbin and Stefan Ratchford also return having been in the England camp last week. Philbin looks set to make his 150th club appearance for the Wolves. Some of the youngsters who featured in victory over the Centurions last time out also retain their spots.

However, playmaker Gareth Widdop – who has been one of the top performer’s for Wire this campaign – is absent having been forced off against Leigh with an ankle injury.

Head-to-Head

Two of Super League’s four ever-present and hugely successful clubs historically, it’s no shock that Wigan and Warrington have come up against one another on so many occasions.

In fact, the Warriors are Wire’s most prominent opponents, facing off no less than 158 times. Overall, it is Wigan who hold the aces with 98 wins in this fixture including the last meeting back in October 2020. That day, Lam’s men reigned supreme by four points (14-18) away at the Halliwell Jones. They have come out on top the last three times that the pair have met.

Wire’s last victory against Wigan came at the 2019 Magic Weekend in Liverpool, where they were victorious by a scoreline of 26-14, their 54th win against Wigan.

Unsurprisingly, the Warriors do also have the bragging rights in terms of Super League meetings. 63 in total, with 40 going their way and just 23 to Warrington. However, could the tide finally be turning, and could the Wire finally go all the way this year to pick up a first-ever Grand Final victory?

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