Wigan Warriors eyes on latest recruit amid fresh injury fear

Wigan Warriors head coach Matt Peet will be keeping a close eye on Christian Wade this afternoon as he makes another appearance for the club’s reserves.

Wade will start on the wing as the second string make the short journey to the Totally Wicked Stadium to take on their St Helens counterparts this afternoon.

The clash will be Wade’s second taste of rugby league, having made the switch from rugby union Premiership side Gloucester at the start of the month. He had a run out just a few days after joining the Cherry and Whites against the Castleford Tigers reserves and had some good moments.

But, after a couple of weeks of training within the first-team at Robin Park, Wade will be expected to kick on and make more an impact against Saints’ reserves as he looks to force his way into the first-team picture.

Peet will be keen to see how he gets on in the derby clash, particularly after seeing Liam Marshall limp out of Friday night’s defeat to Wakefield Trinity. Marshall picked up a leg injury in the closing minutes of the contest and Peet was unable to give much an update when speaking to the press after full-time at Belle Vue.

However, should the England international be ruled out of next week’s clash with Castleford Tigers, the door might just open to make his first-team debut in the 13-man code.

Abbas Miski remains sidelined, with Zach Eckersley doing a fine job on Wigan Warriors’ right in his absence. But the loss of Marshall for however long might just be the opportunity Wade needs to kick on and give Peet some food for thought going into the final months of the campaign.

Wade is part of what is a strong reserves line up today, with last week’s try scoring hero Jack Farrimond set to play alongside first-team regulars Tom Forber, Harvie Hill and Tyler Dupree, with the latter being used off the bench on Friday against Wakefield.

The Saints have named Jon Bennison in their side, while Dayon Sambou, Will Roberts and Jake Davies are other notable names included.