Wigan Warriors head coach Matt Peet will have an anxious wait to see whether Willie Isa and Liam Marshall picked up serious injuries in their win over Hull FC.
Second row forward Isa and winger Marshall both came off at half-time with shoulder and calf injuries respectively, but Peet is unsure whether they are long-term problems or just minor knocks.
“Willie has done his shoulder and Liam is a hamstring, but that’s literally all I know,” said Peet.
The injuries to Isa and Marshall left Peet with just two interchanges in the second half, and it also scuppered the plans he had put in place for the returning Bevan French.
French was named on the bench and making his first appearance since damaging his hamstring at Salford last May. The Australian was brought onto the wing with Zak Hardaker going to centre and Jake Bibby moving to the opposite flank.
“It ended up not being a headache because Liam Marshall was injured at half-time as well as Willie Isa,” added Peet.
“It became quite straightforward so I didn’t have a decision to make. In the back of my mind I thought something like this might happen at some point.
“We’ve lost Kai (Pearce-Paul), Willie and Liam. We don’t know long how for. Straight away Bevan was in and Jake Bibby went on the other wing. What we do know is that we’ve got a lot of strength in depth and determination and a lot of togetherness.”
Peet paid tribute to his whole squad after his players dug deep to bounce back from 12-6 and 18-12 down to see off Hull with a late Harry Smith field-goal.
“It was outstanding from Harry. We all know he’s capable of it. It wasn’t the prettiest but he practises hard; he’s very good in the pressure moments but I think credit must also go to Liam Farrell, who made a carry in those last few minutes which got us moving forward and got us into position for Harry to slot the drop-goal.
“He has confidence, holds his nerve and practises, but his team-mates worked hard to get him in good field position. I can’t stress enough how proud I was of the lads in those closing minutes; they train hard, they’re fit and mobile forwards and that’s what we pride ourselves on.
“Sam Powell was good too. You can see the strike rate they’ve got through the middle. Sam doesn’t miss a beat; he nailed some kicks and his skills were crisp. He’s such an under-rated player. He’s one of our leaders and I can’t credit him enough.”
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