It’s a derby unlike any other. That’s true of Saints v Wigan in more sane
times but in the current climate the meeting of these two old rivals on Tuesday
night (September 29) has an unusual feel about it.
It’s being played on a Tuesday for one thing. In Super League’s dash to try to fit in a 20-game regular season league programme between August and November midweek games were always going to be a thing. This one was originally scheduled for Wednesday September 30. That was the day before the date that the government had pencilled in for an experimental return of fans in stadia in elite level sport. That was taken away last week when the Prime Minister rolled out of bed long enough to decree that not only would fans not return for what will probably be at least six months, but pubs would close at 10pm and you would be banned from visiting your granny in an attempt to curb the resurgence of Covid-19.
With fans off the agenda the game was brought forward 24 hours to the Tuesday night to give Wigan more time to prepare for the weekend’s Challenge Cup semi-final clash with Leeds Rhinos. It was also switched from Wigan’s DW Stadium to Salford’s AJ Bell Stadium. The switch to the earlier date hasn’t been enough to convince Adrian Lam to select his strongest squad, despite the fact that this is a derby. The Wigan selection is missing several of its top performers as a result, which on the one hand should make victory for Saints much more likely, but on the other is perhaps not a great look for one of Super League’s marquee fixtures. If you are a neutral sitting down to watch the latest chapter in one of sport’s enduring rivalries you might not get much bang for your buck.
None of which is Saints’ problem really. They have another League Leaders Shield to pursue and with it a home semi-final for a chance to get to Old Trafford and defend their Super League crown. Kristian Woolf doesn’t have to worry about Challenge Cup affairs having seen his side edged out by Warrington last weekend, and so has gone with as strong a squad as possible.
The notable absentees are Tommy Makinson, who serves the last of his five-match ban for that bizarre interference with Liam Watts a month ago, and Mark Percival whose season looks over after he suffered a recurrence of his hamstring problems in the Warrington loss. He has had surgery in an effort to resolve the issue and will not be able to return to training for between eight and 10 weeks, by which time this odd 2020 campaign will have ended one way or another.
One man’s misfortune is another’s opportunity so both Matty Costello and Josh Simm will be looking to fill the void left by Percival. Costello has been drafted into the 21-man selection as a replacement for Percival but it might well be Simm who gets the start after some promising run-outs during the England centre’s last spell on the side-lines. Jack Welsby is fit again after being forced out of the cup tie with Warrington and may again fill Makinson’s right wing berth, with Kevin Naiqama inside him at centre and Regan Grace outside either Simm or Costello on the other flank. Lachlan Coote will likely stay at fullback despite many fans calling for him to be moved into the halves given Saints’ recent lack of attacking creativity.
With an inexperienced Wigan squad to face is it time for Lewis Dodd to make a debut? Only Covid-19 and track and trace prevented him from making that debut against Hull KR a few weeks ago but he is available again and is an option for Woolf. This could be the perfect game to slot him in alongside Jonny Lomax in the halves and maybe use Theo Fages as a replacement hooker or as a halfback off the bench should events call for a more experienced hand. The only argument against is that expectations of a derby win have gone through the roof since Wigan’s squad was announced. That expectation might be an unfair pressure to pile on a debutant halfback of whom there are very high hopes.
James Graham announced his international retirement this week to the surprise of absolutely nobody apart, it seems, from the ever-perceptive England coach Shaun Wane. The former Wigan boss expressed his disappointment that Graham will now not be involved in the 2021 World Cup though from where I am sitting that never seemed a very likely outcome. As things stand today the plan for Graham is to play out this final year of his club career with Saints and then return to Australia to work in the media. The only way he would have played in the World Cup is if he had secured a deal with a club for the 2021 season. So he won’t play for England again but he will play here, probably from the start alongside Alex Walmsley and James Roby in a stellar front row. Behind them Matty Lees, Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook and Kyle Amor will get game time as will Aaron Smith when Woolf inevitably decides against using against Fages off the bench.
Joe Batchelor returns to the squad in place of Jack Ashworth. Batchelor will vie for a spot in the back row at times although there is stiff competition there with Zeb Taia long established and James Bentley now making a very good name for himself there also. So much so that Dominique Peyroux has been largely used off the bench whenever he has played this season. Morgan Knowles should start at 13 and once you have worked your way through that little list you see how difficult it will be for Batchelor to get on the field.
So who is in this Wigan side? Well let’s start by telling you who is not in it. Most but not all of these are rested but there is no Zak Hardaker, Liam Marshall, Oliver Gildart, Joe Burgess, Bevan French, Thomas Leuluai, Tony Clubb, George Burgess, Liam Farrell, Sean O’Loughlin, Morgan Smithies, Oliver Partington or Ethan Harvard. Brad Singleton has just joined the club from Toronto Wolfpack but will not make his debut in this one. In terms of genuine Super League experience Wigan are relying heavily on the likes of Sam Powell, Willie Isa, Ben Flower, Joe Greenwood, Dom Manfredi, Mitch Clark, Jake Bibby and Jackson Hastings, though Chris Hankinson, Joe Bullock, Liam Byrne, Harry Smith, Jake Shorrocks and Jack Wells also have first team games under their collective belt.
Less is known about Amir Bourouh, Kai Pearce-Paul, Sam
Halsall, James McDonnell, Harry Rushton, Umyla Hanley and Ben Kilner. Rushton is a hot prospect who has already
agreed a deal with Wigan’s first team Canberra Raiders before his Super League
career has really even got off the ground, while Hanley is the son of Ellery
Hanley, perhaps the greatest English player to ever play the game. Absolutely no pressure on him then. These youngsters are up against it against a
formidable Saints side but the 18-year-old Hanley along with 19-year-olds Bourouh, Halsall, and Pearce-Paul, 20-year-old McDonnell and 21-year-old Kilner should view this as a
fabulous opportunity to make a name for themselves.
Stranger things have happened and this is a strange season but it is difficult to see Wigan getting anything out of this beyond some invaluable big game experience for their youngsters. The playoff system allows them to prioritise the cup game without having to worry too much about the result of this one, notwithstanding the fact that it is Saints and any fixture with Saints is one that Wigan are desperate to win. But you don’t get a place at Wembley and a chance to win the game’s oldest prize by beating Saints on a Tuesday night in Salford. From that perspective it is difficult to blame Lam for his choices. For Saints a loss against Wigan’s young prospects would be fairly embarrassing and in any case Woolf’s side need the win to consolidate their lead at the top of the Super League table. That is now their sole focus and with that in mind I expect them to come out on top in this one by something in the region of 20 points.
Squads;
St Helens;
1. Lachlan Coote, 3. Kevin Naiqama, 5. Regan Grace, 6. Jonny Lomax, 7. Theo Fages, 8. Alex Walmsley, 9. James Roby, 11. Zeb Taia, 12, Dom Peyroux, 13. LMS, 14. Morgan Knowles, 15. Matty Lees, 16. Kyle Amor, 19. Aaron Smith, 20. James Bentley, 21, Matty Costello, 22. Jack Welsby, 23, Joe Batchelor, 26, Josh Simm, 27, Lewis Dodd, 32. James Graham.
Wigan Warriors;
Referee: Ben Thaler
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