Noble confident over Smith return
Brian Noble is confident that Tim Smith will play for Warriors again.
The Australian stand-off dislocated his shoulder in last Sunday's victory at Hull KR and is out of tonight's home game with Harlequins.
He is set to undergo further medical checks to see whether he needs surgery.
And though Noble won't know a recovery time-frame until next week, he is keeping his fingers crossed.
Smith – out-of-contract at the end of this season – has made no secret of his intentions to leave Wigan and relaunch his NRL career next year.
Noble said: "I'm hopeful Tim will play some part again this year.
"We don't know yet whether he needs an operation, they'll take another look at it first.
"He's seeing a specialist and it will probably be next week before we know.
"But certainly, we want to get Tim back into the equation so he's available for selection."
Sam Tomkins replaced Smith last week and went on to play a pivotal role in their 36-28 win at Craven Park.
The 20-year-old – who this week pledged his long-term future to his home-town club – is almost certain to start tonight.
Visitors Quins have lost their last two matches, against Leeds and Wakefield, but arrive at the JJB Stadium four points ahead of Warriors in the Super League table.
"This is an important game for us," said Noble.
"Harlequins will be tough and efficient – they're fifth in the table for a reason.
"We were happy with the win last Sunday, but the nature of this competition is we have to back it up.
"I think we gave Hull KR a few too many chances.
We should have kicked on at 30-16, but it seems we have to make things anxious.
"We've got areas to improve on because if we're not at our best Harlequins will be ready.
"They have had the disruption of losing Luke Dorn and Rob Purdham.
"But they've coped with that admirably and Chad Randall and Danny Orr
are playing very well for them."
Harlequins coach Brian McDermott, who is a former boxer and Royal Marine Commando, was Noble's assistant at Bradford.
Noble said: "We go back a long way. We actually played together when I was at the back end of my career and we've been close ever since.
"Everyone talks about Brian's toughness and people forget that he's smart as well. He's a good coach, he knows what he's talking about."
Noble will give Martin Gleeson a late fitness test on a hamstring injury before deciding whether he will return.
Wigan have not played at the JJB for four weeks due to pitch maintenance work.
But three of their next four matches are at home and Noble added: "Our fans can play a huge part.
"We've not been at home for a while and we need to make sure home advantage counts for us.
"There's only been a couple of times this season where we've failed miserably in relation to putting a shift in.
"We have nine games to go in Super League and our form has to be good. There are two teams leading the way at the moment and then there's the chasing pack, and we need to make sure we're as close to the top of that pile as we can get."
Kick-off tonight is at 8pm and the game is live on Sky Sports.
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Friday 10 February 2012
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