
One Wigan Warriors forward has claimed the club got what they “needed” despite losing to Leeds Rhinos at the weekend.
The Super League champions fell to a 22-4 defeat in their second and final game of the pre-season but there were still positives to take according to young forward Harvie Hill.
Hill, who has played almost all of his career at prop, played loose forward at Headingley on Sunday and that was one element of the game that he enjoyed as he cited the ‘positives’ taken from the game.
“Although the result didn’t go our way, we managed to get what we needed from the game which is a positive,” Hill told Wigan Warriors media.
Outlining those positives, he said: “We added tough minutes, players returned to action for the first time, and we were able to put into play things we’ve worked hard on through pre-season which is what the coaches were looking for.”
Whilst Wigan opted to primarily play stars of the future against Oldham, the Warriors named the majority of their starters against Leeds barring a few players such as Abbas Miski and Ethan Havard who Sean O’Loughlin revealed were still returning to full fitness.
Another thing that Wigan were able to try given the fact the fixture was a friendly was testing players in different positions, with Hill’s move to loose forward one of those experiments.
Speaking on that change, the 21-year-old said: “I enjoyed playing 13 as I was able to get my hands on the ball a bit more. The role against Leeds was different but I thought Paddy and I did well in difficult conditions.”
He did concede that his position could vary depending on opposition with his versatility only being a positive for Matt Peet’s side.
Hill explained: “Where I play depends on the opposition and our team, but I’m able to mix and match.
Wigan will now head overseas for some warm-weather training before returning in early February to face Sheffield Eagles in the Challenge Cup and Hll has outlined what the club will work on in Tenerife.
He said: “We’ve worked hard throughout pre-season and now the excitement is building as the start of the season gets closer. We’ll continue to work hard in the warm weather where we can focus on building our connections with the ball in hand.”
