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In what is still a huge weekend in the Rugby League calendar, Magic Weekend is upon us as all Super League sides travel to the North-East where six games will be played at the impressive St James’ Park Stadium.
In what will be the second game of the first day, Wigan Warriors take on French giants Catalan Dragons at 3:45pm, with Wigan looking to make it consecutive Super League wins following their dramatic win over Hull KR last Thursday.
The win came deep into the first half of Golden Point when Liam Farrell completed his hat-trick after Abbas Miski saved the game in the final second with a remarkable try in the corner.
It was a huge two points for the Warriors who prevented an in-form Hull KR side from leapfrogging them in the Betfred Super League, but they will need to be on their ‘A-game’ if they are to come away from Magic Weekend with another two points.
Catalan currently sit level on points with the warriors with an identical record in terms of results and just six points difference separating the sides. And with both teams chasing Warrington, they’ll both be chomping at the bit to carry on their respective strong starts to the season.
Whilst Wigan ended their poor run of form by avoiding three straight league defeats, Catalan have suffered a dip in form themselves, losing three of the last six games heading into the Magic Weekend and will be keen to make sure they build on their last win over Wakefield Trinity.
In Matt Peet’s pre-match press conference, he seemed a lot more hopeful about Wigan’s injury situation which has looked fairly bleak over the past few weeks.
After losing Kai Pearce-Paul, Cade Cust and Jai Field to name just a few, Peet is hopeful a couple will be back at the latest next week, with last season’s star man Field deemed ‘50/50’ for the game in Newcastle but is the one change as he’s included in the 21-man squad.
The game also holds significance for a man who knows the two sides very well. Saturday will see Sam Tomkins face Wigan for the final time on UK soil following the announcement of his retirement at the end of the year.
Tomkins represented the cherry and whites between 2008 and 2013 before returning for two more years in 2016, collecting over 200 games for the Warriors. And with that in mind, it’ll be a special occasion for the fullback who faces off against his first club on home soil for a final time.
In terms of the 21-man squads, as earlier mentioned, Jai Field makes a return for the Warriors and is the only change as he replaces academy product Harvey Makin.
📋 𝙎𝙌𝙐𝘼𝘿 𝙉𝙀𝙒𝙎
Matt Peet has made one change to his 21-man squad for Saturday's @SuperLeague game against @DragonsOfficiel!
🗞 Read more 👉 https://t.co/azdCYuVCnl#WWRL #MagicWeekend pic.twitter.com/fIoGUpiV7H
— Wigan Warriors 🍒⚪️ (@WiganWarriorsRL) June 1, 2023
As for the Dragons, Sam Tomkins, Mitchell Pearce and Alrix Da Costa all return for the French side and replace Matthieu Laguerre, César Rougé and Ugo Tison.
🏉 𝗟𝗘 𝗚𝗥𝗢𝗨𝗣𝗘
𝑃𝑟𝑒́𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑒́ 𝑝𝑎𝑟 𝑍𝑜𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑐Steve McNamara a dévoilé son groupe pour affronter @WiganWarriorsRL à l'occasion du Magic Weekend.
🇫🇷 https://t.co/Rf4roKnAP8
🇬🇧 https://t.co/wFMAZeQstX pic.twitter.com/gyZa4BZnYk— Dragons Catalans (@DragonsOfficiel) June 1, 2023
It would certinaly be an interesting match up should Field and Tomkins both start at full back – a match up Sam Tomkins possibly isn’t looking forward to as he shared his reaction to Field’s return on social media.
🤦🏼♂️
— sam tomkins (@samtomkins1) June 1, 2023
But even if Field is fit, it will be interesting to see if Peet does opt to put Field as the number 1. With Bevan French and Field often interchanging whilst both fit, French has done a stellar job in the past few weeks in the full-back position, proving himself to be one of the best in the competition, so certinaly a selection headache for the Warriors Head Coach.
Regardless of the decision of who plays full back, it’s all set up to a corker of a tie in the second game of the Magic Weekend and all eyes are now firmly on St James’ Park.
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