Matt Peet’s Wigan Warriors will be looking to continue their perfect start to the Super League season this weekend in the south of France.
The Cherry and Whites take on Toulouse Olympique on Saturday afternoon and they know that the Super League newcomers present something of a banana skin. Sylvain Houles’ side will be smarting after losing their first game of the season at Bradford Bulls last week and they’ll be keen to make life as difficult as possible for Wigan in the Pink City.
What certainly will make Wigan’s challenge of getting two points harder, though, is Jai Field’s absence, with the full-back set to miss the next four to six weeks after undergoing appendix surgery.
Field was one of Wigan’s best last time out against Leigh Leopards and the Australian will certainly be a big miss for the Warriors.
How Peet chooses to replace him in the side remains to be seen, but on the face of it, he has two real options.
Noah Hodkinson is the first of those options, with the youngster being included in the 21-man squad this week and while other youngsters within the Wigan ranks have been loaned out, he has notably remained.
Hodkinson has been impressing in the reserves and youth ranks for some time now and he’ll be ready and waiting to take his shot should Peet look his way.
However, the second and more likely choice seems to be shifting Bevan French from his usual stand-off position to full-back in a change which opens the door for Jack Farrimond to get a shot alongside Harry Smith.
Farrimond needs as many senior minutes as he can get at this stage of his career and the half-back has certainly done enough to showcase his tremendous talent and ability.
Matt Peet seldom makes changes unless he absolutely has to and it would not be a surprise if the introduction of Farrimond was the only alteration to the line-up that beat Leigh last week. That means French plays at one, with Liam Farrell continuing to fill in for the injured Jake Wardle at centre.
Farrimond looks set to play in the halves and if he does play, he’ll likely be behind a pack that remains unchanged, both in terms of the starters and the four interchanges on the bench.
Predicted Wigan Warriors line-up to face Toulouse Olympique
Bevan French; Zach Eckersley, Adam Keighran, Liam Farrell, Liam Marshall; Jack Farrimond, Harry Smith; Luke Thompson, Brad O’Neill, Ethan Havard; Junior Nsemba, Sam Walters; Kaide Ellis.
Bench: Tom Forber, Sam Eseh, Oliver Partington, Patrick Mago.
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