Adrian Lam reveals 'man of the match' of Wigan Warriors' pre-season

Adrian Lam before Robin Park was closed down

And while he has been impressed with the contributions of all of his players, it is a member of his backroom staff who has shone the brightest.

Ian Bentley is taking charge of Wigan’s strength and conditioning, having stepped up from his role with the academy to replace former player Paul Johnson.

And his efforts have certainly not gone unnoticed.

When Lam was asked to choose his ‘man of the match’ from pre-season, the coach said: “It’s hard to do when everyone has done so well.

“But if I had to give out one it would be to our S&C coach, Ian Bentley.

“He has been brilliant, and we’re in such a great place already.”

Bentley, who has PhD in Applied BioMechanics and Performance, has put an emphasis on tailored programmes to try and make the Warriors players faster and more powerful.

“At the end of last season, after we’d reviewed the year, we spoke about what we wanted as a coaching group about areas we felt we could improve.” said Lam.

“We relayed that to Ian and he’s been brilliant at improving those areas.”

Bentley, 36, faces a further test of his skills over the next few days as he manages players’ training from afar.

The Robin Park HQ was closed on Monday night after an outbreak of Covid-19 in the camp.

Those who tested positive are self-isolating, while others will train at home – as they did in the first lockdown.

Wigan conducted a regular round of testing on Monday, when the positive results were discovered.

The centre will stay shut for 10 days, during which time the training centre will undergo a deep clean.

There will be further rounds of testing at the club on the 12th and 17th and, after those results, the RFL’s Multiple Cases Group will consider whether the first team squad can return to training.