Mark Applegarth forced to name two star men in surprising positions against Wigan Warriors

Two sides face off tonight both off the back of a loss as Wakefield Trinity travel to the DW Stadium to face Wigan Warriors.

Trinity fell short to Catalans on Friday evening as their former winger Tom Johnstone punished them with a hattrick in a 38-24 defeat.

Wigan played in the televised Channel 4 fixture and lost in front of a packed-out Craven Park and were also on the end of a hattrick, with Rovers skipper Shaun Kenny-Dowall solidifying the 27-18 win as he crossed over for a third time in the 75th minute.

The two youngest coaches in the competition now face off and it’s Wigan who are the overwhelming favourites and they’ve named a near full-strength squad to try earn them their first win.

In their quest to stun Wigan, Applegarth has named a surprising side.

It comes due in part to the injury picked up by fullback Max Jowitt who misses out after a knock to the ankle.

This means that in a surprise twist Lee Gaskell starts at fullback meaning that new signing Samisoni Langi is named in the halves in a bold position switch from Applegarth.

This means Corey Hall comes into the centres after starting on the bench last week.

He is joined by Jorge Taufua who is playing out of position due to the absence of Reece Lyne in the centres.

TEAM NEWS 🚨

XIII | Gaskell, Lineham, Hall, Taufua, Murphy, Langi, Lino, Whitbread, Smith, Butler, Pitts, Ashurst (C), Proctor

SUBS | Kay, Battye, Atoni, Tanginoa

🤝 @WDHcarelink pic.twitter.com/86Mk1QWOov

— Wakefield Trinity (@WTrinityRL) February 24, 2023

As for Wigan, Matt Peet has dropped Kai Pearce-Paul to 18th man status after he scored last week.

Willie Isa instead starts in the backrow.

Brad Singleton returns to the starting line up himself.

📋 𝙏𝙀𝘼𝙈 𝙉𝙀𝙒𝙎

🔒 Matt Peet has locked in his team for our Round 2 home opener against @WTrinityRL this evening!#WWRL #SLWIGWAK pic.twitter.com/4cSK0FfoUz

— Wigan Warriors 🍒⚪️ (@WiganWarriorsRL) February 24, 2023