Sheffield Eagles head coach Craig Lingard has labelled Friday night’s Challenge Cup opponents Wigan Warriors as the “best team in the world” and outlined the club’s plans to beat them despite the Championship’s side current injury crisis.
Lingard confirmed that signings Morgan Smith and Corey Johnson will both miss Round Three of the Challenge Cup meaning the Eagles are without either of their hookers that they recruited from Super League. Meanwhile, full-back Matty Marsh is injured meaning a likely debut for Jack Walker.
Facing the media and asked how he felt about the prospect of facing the 2024 quadruple winners, Lingard quipped: “Like you said, they’re quite good, aren’t they? They’re the best team in the world.”
He added: “I was sick of seeing them last year at Castleford, I think we played them four times in the first half of the season, I thought I’d got away from playing them this year but now we’ve drawn them in the cup.”
Wigan Warriors and Sheffield Eagles Team News
As he began to assess the game, he labelled it a “free hit” with the former Castleford Tigers boss claiming that his side still are not at 100% and will likely use this and their early Championship games as trials to find their stride.
Lingard argued: “It’s a free hit for us, I know that’s one of them statements that people will say when you’re playing against a team that’s in a higher division than you but that’s exactly what it is for us, it’s a free hit.
“We want to go and test ourselves against a real good team and we can build towards what is ultimately our goal this year which is the Championship season.”
Craig Lingard outlines the way to beat Wigan Warriors
Credit: Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com
Sheffield will be rank outsiders at home on Friday night but the 4G pitch could play a factor according to Lingard as he hopes to emulate John Kear’s 1998 side and cause a huge upset, albeit not at Wembley.
Asked about why Wigan Warriors are the dominant force that they are, Lingard named them as the shining example for all clubs to follow before explaining what he learned from when he crossed paths with Matt Peet’s side in 2024.
On the key to the Warriors’ success, he joked: “I guess if everybody knew that then everybody would be copying it, wouldn’t they? I think it’s just the way the club has been run over a number of years and how they’ve developed their own players, how they’ve recruited the world-class players that they have done.
“I think it’s a shining example of how a rugby league club should be run. It’s an example for everybody else involved in Rugby League in the UK of how a club should be run.”
Specifically on how to beat Wigan Warriors, he laid out the blueprint as such: “You can’t take any shortcuts, I think if you look for shortcuts then you find that taking a shortcut ends up being the longest way around. You’ve got to make sure you’re really clinical in your execution, your defence has got to be good, you’ve got to have at least 50% of the ball against these sort of teams.
“I think if you go in with the attitude that you’re going to outscore a team like Wigan then you’re going to get beat quite easily so you’ve got to go in with an attitude that you’re going to try and out defend them.”
Sheffield Eagles injury crisis revealed ahead of Challenge Cup clash
Credit: Olly Hassell/SWpix.com
The difference between outlining the plan ad enacting it is massive and putting it to paper will be very tough for Sheffield given their injury issues which Lingard labelled as a “little bit of an injury crisis”, explaining: “We’ve got six injured at the moment in time and no hookers. Corey Johnson’s out, Reiss Butterworth’s out so we’ve got a little bit of an injury crisis early on this season.
“The majority of the fallout is from injuries from last season or operations from last season but we lost Corey Johnson to a training injury against Hunslet last week. We’re just waiting for him to see a specialist on a head injury because it’s his second one in a short period of time.
“Reiss Butterworth damaged his jaw and his teeth in the friendly against Doncaster, so he’s out for between six to eight weeks and then we’ve got several injuries that are carry-overs from last season as well that we’re contending with.
“At this moment in time, I think we’re down to about 19 to 20 players, so there’s going to be some people who are going to have to play out of position I would imagine this week.”
The former Castleford Tigers boss is also expecting a very strong Wigan side to turn up at the Olympic Legacy Park, explaining that the pre-season loss to Leeds Rhinos could have helped to fuel up Matt Peet as the Warriors begin their Challenge Cup defence.
Lingard said: “Whatever team Wigan will play will be an outstanding team, I’d imagine they will come full strength.
“You can’t read too much into friendlies but they got beat by Leeds in a friendly and I’d imagine knowing Wigan and Matty Peet, they will want to put that right so they’ll come with a full-strength side and build towards that Las Vegas game.”
Sheffield have since named their squad which can be seen in the tweet below.
🔢 SQUAD ANNOUNCEMENT | Craig Lingard has announced his matchday squad for Friday night’s Betfred Challenge Cup 3rd Round clash against Wigan Warriors at Olympic Legacy Park (7:30pm).
📖 READ | https://t.co/4QeHQE6W4j#OneClub pic.twitter.com/9iQuJ9ehzy
— Sheffield Eagles (@SheffieldEagles) February 5, 2025
