TotalRL has looked at the 19-man squads and likely line-ups for Wigan’s trip to Warrington on Saturday afternoon and taken the plunge.. by picking a combined XIII featuring the best players in each side! This one is bound to cause some debate..
Fullback: Stefan Ratchford (Warrington)
Ratchford just gets the nod over Wigan counterpart Sam Tomkins here – particularly as he’s currently the incumbent England fullback, too.
Wing: Joe Burgess (Wigan)
Burgess has spent a fair portion of this season at centre due to Wigan’s injury problems, but should be back on the wing in familiar territory this weekend.
Centre: Ryan Atkins (Warrington)
Atkins remains one of the best centres in Super League – and the experienced three-quarter will be crucial to the Wolves’ hopes this weekend.
Centre: Oliver Gildart (Wigan)
Gildart is surely one of the best young English centres around – and expect Wigan to get better and better now he’s fully-fit once again.
Wing: Liam Marshall (Wigan)
Marshall has been the success story of Wigan’s season so far. He looks every inch a Super League winger and will surely retain his place despite so many returnees for this weekend.
Stand-off: George Williams (Wigan)
Williams is undoubtedly the star half-back of both teams’ options in that department. He oozes class and will be vital for the Warriors and Shaun Wane on Saturday.
Scrum-half: Thomas Leuluai (Wigan)
Thomas Leuluai gets the nudge ahead of Kurt Gidley at scrum-half – the New Zealand international is still some way off his best, but he has been an important recruit for Wigan this season following the loss of Matty Smith.
Prop: Ashton Sims (Warrington)
Neither side have front-rowers who are setting the world on fire – but Sims remains one of the most barnstorming forwards in the game on his day.
Hooker: Daryl Clark (Warrington)
Hooker was perhaps the toughest spot to call in this combined side – and Warrington’s Daryl Clark just gets the nod over Wigan counterpart Michael McIlorum.
Prop: Taulima Tautai (Wigan)
Tautai has proven to be an important player from the bench for Wigan – both this year and in their title-winning campaign of 2016.
Second row: John Bateman (Wigan)
Bateman returns on Saturday after several months out injured, and his presence will give Shaun Wane’s side a massive left on the edges.
Second row: Joe Westerman (Warrington)
It was tough to leave Westerman out of any combined side given his form, particularly at the start of the year. Therefore, we’ve nudged him out into the back-row.
Loose-forward: Sean O’Loughlin (Wigan)
Wigan captain O’Loughlin could not have been left out of any combined side like this. He’s still one of the best in the world on his day for both club and country.
