Wigan Warriors will be without three key men this evening when they take on Huddersfield Giants.
Matt Peet was always going to shuffle his side with Jack Farrimond dropping out of the half-back spot and as expected, Adam Keighran gets the nod alongside Harry Smith. Zach Eckersley is the man chosen to replace the Australian at centre and he slots into what can only be described as an unfamiliar outside back line up.
Both Abbas Miski and Liam Marshall have dropped out of the reckoning, with the pair visibly struggling at points last week through injury. That means Jacob Douglas starts on the right and former rugby union star Christian Wade gets a debut on the left.
Wade has been with Wigan since the start of June with the winger spending the last few weeks learning the 13-man code and playing for the reserves. He gets the first-team nod this evening though and he’ll be keen to give the head coach some food for thought.
Luke Thompson is the third man to drop out. He’s replaced in the starting line up by Ethan Havard, with Harvey Makin the man to step onto the bench.
There’s notably no Tom Burgess for Huddersfield Giants, who are also without Oliver Wilson through injury.
Sam Hewitt returns to the fold off the bench, though, alongside Matty English, who steps straight into the starting line-up.
Wigan Warriors v Huddersfield Giants teams
Wigan Warriors: Jai Field; Jacob Douglas, Zach Eckersley, Jake Wardle, Christian Wade; Adam Keighran, Harry Smith; Ethan Havard, Brad O’Neill, Tyler Dupree; Junior Nsemba, Liam Farrell, Kaide Ellis.
Bench: Patrick Mago, Liam Byrne, Kruise Leeming, Harvey Makin.
Huddersfield Giants: George Flanagan; Adam Swift, Sam Halsall, Taane Milne, Jacob Gagai; Tui Lolohea, Matt Frawley; Tristan Powell, Zac Woolford, Matty English; Harry Rushton, Joe Greenwood, Leroy Cudjoe.
Bench: Kieran Rush, Ashton Golding, George King, Sam Hewitt
