Wigan Warriors’ Christian Wade plan revealed amid Luke Thompson update

Wigan Warriors head coach Matt Peet has confirmed that new signing Christian Wade won’t be involved this weekend against Huddersfield Giants. Wade made the move over from rugby union last week, joining up with his new teammates in the 13-man code just days after parting ways with Premiership club Gloucester.

He had his first taste of a rugby league game just a couple of days after joining up with the Cherry and Whites, too, featuring on the wing for the reserves against Castleford Tigers last week. He showed glimpses of his talent in that game by all accounts, but it’s clear he must continue to get to grips with the sport.

That’s why he won’t feature against the Giants this week at Dewsbury, with Matt Peet keen for him to get another runout in the second string under his belt before he steps into Super League contention.

Matt Peet explains why Christian Wade won’t play for Wigan Warriors this week

“He won’t play,” Peet said this week. “He’s going to have another game in our reserves before we reassess. We have to acknowledge Christian is new to rugby league and coming off the back of a long, hard season. It was always agreed we’d freshen him up and accelerate his learning on practice and reserves games.

“All the skills that made him a success in rugby union are transferrable in terms of his athleticism, the way he carries, and more importantly his attitude to learn quickly. He won a lot of friends with the way he put his hand up to play reserves last week.

“I put the option to him and he was very keen. You wouldn’t get many sportsmen who would be so keen to throw themselves into a game with less than a week’s recovery and only one training session – I was impressed.”

Wade might not be the only one sitting out of the action this week with Peet confirming that Luke Thompson is still a major doubt. He picked up a rib issue at Catalans Dragons last month and sat out of Wigan’s last game against Salford Red Devils as a result.

“He’s still in a little bit of pain,” Peet added. “He could play at a push but it’s just whether we decide to take that step just yet or let him heal a bit more before we throw him in.”