Despite having been in the country for less than a week, all three of Wakefield’s new NRL recruits have been named in Richard Agar’s squad to face Salford on Sunday.
Scott Anderson, Pita Godinet and Matty Ryan all left Australia last weekend and arrived in West Yorkshire to start training on Monday morning and are all in line to make their Wakefield debuts at the AJ Bell Stadium.
Agar admits fans may not see the best of them just yet but he was keen to get the trio playing as soon as possible.
“They’re still not fully over the jetlag, but we’re hoping by the time Sunday comes they will be a bit better,” said Agar.
“Obviously they have missed all of pre-season with us so we’re not expecting miracles from them this week after four sessions. But the sooner we can get them bedded in and settled I am sure we’ll start to see the benefits.”
The two sides last met in June, in Salford, with Wakefield running out 46-10 winners, and although the Red Devils will field a vastly different side to that day, Agar knows a great game is in prospect.
“It should be a great atmosphere,” he added.
“There has been lots of anticipation and build up around Salford and it’s a great time to go over there and be involved in a game that marks the start of a new era for them.
“It will take some time to see best of them. They have had two trial games in horrendous and difficult conditions and we have seen brief snippets of what to expect from those games. We didn’t see heaps of their attacking play but we know they can be formidable outfit.
“We’ve had many games in last few years against Rangi Chase and we’ve had Tim Smith in our own ranks so we have some real knowledge of who will be steering Salford around pitch which is helpful to us.”
Wakefield’s 19-man squad: Richard Mathers, Peter Fox, Dean Collis, Reece Lyne, Paul Sykes, Pita Godinet, Scott Anderson, Paul McShane, Andy Raleigh, Ali Lauitiiti, Danny Kirmond (c), Danny Washbrook, Matty Wldie, Matty Ryan, Taulima Tautai, Jimmy Keinhorst, Lucas Walshaw, Daniel Smith, Luke Briscoe.
Salford’s 19-man squad: Matty Ashurst, Rangi Chase, Andrew Dixon, Darrell Griffin, Harrison Hansen, Gareth Hock, Stuart Howarth, Greg Johnson, Tommy Lee, Shannan McPherson, Francis Meli, Adrian Morley, Jake Mullaney, Tony Puletua, Tim Smith, Junior Sa’u, Lama Tasi, Jason Walton, Danny Williams.
What the bookies think
New-look Salford are heavy favourites, with BWin offering 3/10. The best Wakefield odds you can get are 77/20 with YouWin. A draw is 22/1 with SkyBet.
