Wigan Warriors have announced that Lewis Tierney and Romain Navarrete have joined Super League rivals Catalans Dragons on loan until the end of the season.
Tierney has made 40 appearances for the Warriors – including 22 last season, culminating in the Grand Final victory over Warrington. Navarrete joined Wigan ahead of the 2017 season from the Dragons and has made 10 appearances for the Warriors to date.
“With the imminent return of Dom Manfredi and the emergence of both Liam Marshall and Tom Davies, who have been playing so well, Lewis has been left frustrated on the sidelines and limited to just five appearances in his preferred position on the wing,” Wigan rugby director Kris Radlinski said.
“The player registration for the Super 8s is fast approaching and with this opportunity having arisen we felt it would be wrong to stand in Lewis’ way. Lewis has been very professional and mature about the situation and we all want him to go to the Dragons and have a fantastic couple of months.
“With regards to Romain, he has become increasingly unsettled in recent weeks and has flown home several times to be with his sister who has recently had a baby.
“Family is clearly very important to Romain and it is not fair on someone to see them so visibly down. With the return of several first-team players in recent weeks, Romain’s game-time has also been limited. Consequently we have agreed a loan deal with Catalans as we believe this is the right thing to do for both the player and the club.
“We will continue to monitor the situation going forwards and wish Romain well for the rest of the season.”