Wigan coach Adrian Lam admits he would like to see a ruling on Toronto Wolfpack’s future sooner rather than later – so players such as current Warriors prop Ben Flower can arrange their futures after revealing the Welsh international has signed for the Canadian side in 2021.
Flower, whose current deal expires at the end of this season, was widely expected to be playing for Toronto next season, a move Lam appeared to confirm on Wednesday in his pre-match press conference ahead of the Warriors’ clash with Wakefield.
But with so much uncertainty over whether Toronto will return to Super League next year, Lam said it is imperative that a decision is made as soon as possible to ensure players are not left sorting their futures out at the last minute.
When asked if Flower could still earn a deal at Wigan for 2021, Lam said: “Ben’s always been considered highly here. He’s done a great job alongside Tony Clubb in helping to bring the younger ones through. He signed a contract for two or three years and there’s still talk that Toronto are going to be in the competition, so it’s a difficult process to know who’s doing what and at what levels.
“We need clarification from the RFL on the ruling sooner rather than later, so players that are there know if they’re not going to be there next year, they have an opportunity to sign elsewhere. Every club is going to look at players they’ve got who are going to Toronto and the same goes with Ben. He’s got a job to do for us this year before he leaves for Toronto though.”
Wigan are widely expected to bring in current Wolfpack prop Brad Singleton as a like-for-like replacement for Flower, following speculation the Ireland international is a target for the Warriors next season.
Lam was non-committal on Singleton, but did admit they would monitor the situation with Toronto to see if any of their squad would be useful to Wigan in 2021 if they aren’t to return to Super League.
