WIGAN WARRIORS are a club that is notorious for developing its own young talent.
The likes of Liam Farrell, Harry Smith, Liam Marshall, Liam Byrne and Morgan Smithies are just some of those that have made it into the Wigan first-team after coming through the academy set-up at the DW Stadium.
In recent weeks, both Harvie Hill and Junior Nsemba have made it clear that they are very much top-flight players in the making.
One more talent, however, is expected to make his Super League bow in the upcoming months with Wigan head coach Matt Peet eager to see him in action.
Peet was asked who the next player off the youth conveyor belt would be: “Zach Eckersley,” Peet answered confidently.
“I like what he’s been doing at Widnes and he is proving himself. We like what he is doing and he will feature before the end of the season.”
Meanwhile, ahead of the Warriors’ fixture against St Helens on Friday night, Peet still has livewire Jai Field at his disposal after the latter made his comeback from another devastating hamstring injury last weekend.
For Field, it has been a difficult process to get fit, but his body is right.
“The body feels really good, I’m just more pleased to get through 80 minutes. Hamstring injuries, you can come back too early and things can go wrong but the club did the right thing and took all the right precautions,” Field said.
“I think at the moment, coming back from an injury, I want to do my role for the team, play it by ear at the moment and do my best for the team.
“The injuries are difficult for a player like myself, a fast twitch athlete hitting high speeds all the time.
“The performance staff here want to make your training and rehabbing as close to game simulating as best as possible. For the first couple of runs it is challenging but you have to trust the process
“The rivalry is massive, I played in a few games against them last year and I don’t think a rivalry compares to it back to Australia.”
Peet too echoed those thoughts, drawing on how “exciting” the game will be.
“It’s an exciting fixture regardless of what happened the week before, we can’t wait to let last week out of our system and equally Saints arguably put in their best performance of the year last week.
“Defensively we were way off, obviously our right edge some took stick and we invited them in. We allowed Catalans to get down the field way too easily and against a team as good as them you will be under pressure. It is a simple fix up.
“The game of rugby league is very challenging and things we got wrong but where this game will be won and lost on will be physicality and energy. It’s easy to talk about but they are very big things.”