Wigan Warriors signing Jarrod Sammut believes the club will benefit from their double weekend of pre-season friendlies, which saw them beat Salford 28-18 and London Skolars 34-6 on their travels.
The 31-year-old made a surprise move to the Adrian Lam’s side from London Broncos in the off-season, and was given his first opportunity for his new side in the victory over the Red Devils, in which Zak Hardaker made a try-scoring return to Rugby League.
With a number of youngsters involved in both fixtures, as the majority of the squad was used, the Malta international believes the side will benefit later on in the season when squad depth is at its most important.
“Here at Wigan, we’ve got a great depth of juniors and a lot of them are ready to take that step into the First Team when the opportunity arises,” he said. “It’s a good headache for Lammy (Lam) and the Club to have, but at the same time if anyone has an injury, we know that they will fill in quite comfortably and be ready to go. We won’t have any setbacks as we know they up to speed with everything.
“It’s an exciting time for them as they want to impress Lammy, and Sunday was about everybody putting into practice those little things that we’ve been doing in training and it’s put us in good stead for this week to review.”
Looking ahead to the upcoming season, Sammut has laid down the marker to push his way into the side, with Thomas Leuluai and George Williams the likely candidates to play in the halves.
“We’re definitely prepared,” he added. “I don’t think we’re quite there or hitting our heights at the moment, but I think that’s a good thing. You don’t win anything at the start of the season or in friendlies, as it’s about fine-tuning combinations and our style of play.
“We can’t get too carried away with ourselves, as it’s about putting in that little 1% each day which will make up the bigger picture. Obviously, my personal goal is to start and play, but we’re still two weeks away and a good thing for Lammy is that he’s got plenty of healthy competition for that position.
“I’ve just got to keep working and eventually my time will come. Sunday was a good opportunity to get out there and work with some new teammates and now I’m looking forward to the new season ahead.”
