Inside Wigan Warriors pre-season training with club’s head of performance as gruelling session nears

The reigning champions are nearing the completion of week four of preparations ahead of their 2025 title-defending campaign, while England internationals and overseas stars are set to report back to Robin Park Arena full-time after the festive holidays.

Wigan’s promoted academy quintet Noah Hodkinson, Taylor Kerr, Nathan Lowe, Lukas Mason and Kian McDermott, alongside new recruit George Hirst, were among the first to start pre-season training alongside work experience, and have impressed both Bentley and first-team head coach Matt Peet in the early stages.

The likes of Sam Walters, Tyler Dupree, Harvie Hill, Tiaki Chan and Sam Eseh shortly followed, before duo Kruise Leeming and Liam Byrne reported back.

“The lads came back in really good shape,” Bentley said.

“One thing this year, we’ve had a really strong group of younger lads who have come in and pushed the other lads. Obviously you’ve got your senior boys who come back and have their own routines and have pushed on as well.

“John Duffy has done a lot of good work with the youngsters in the off-season, so a credit to him. Those younger players have known what’s expected of them before they’ve even come in and I think that’s enabled them to come in and hit the ground running.

“We always say that pre-season is a really important time; if you start well, it goes from there.

“There’s a lot of individual work. The players do their individual development, they have meetings throughout pre-season and during the season.

“We identify areas where certain players work on, and then they get cracking on with that and we assess it as we go. It’s continuous.”

The club’s gym facilities have been injected with new equipment, supported by partners Matrix, while Robin Park also had pitch renovations midway through the 2024 campaign in a major boost at Wigan’s headquarters.

“We’ve been working with Matrix for about six years, and they asked if we wanted the gym re-kitted out,” Bentley added.

“They’ve done everything, and it freshens up the start of pre-season. It’s been massive. The lads come in, they’re excited to train in it and it goes from there.

“Matrix has kitted it out exactly how we wanted it, and it’s perfect. It brings a great feeling to pre-season.”

The Warriors will conclude their opening weeks of hard work with one of the toughest sessions of pre-season at Formby Beach before a break for Christmas, with the first-team and academy players to undertake the gruelling training.

“It’s a bit of a tradition now,” Bentley said of Formby Beach.

“It’s the last session before we break up. The academy joins in on that one as well. It’s good and it helps set standards.

"I think the lads enjoy it. It’s obviously a tough session with a lot of cardio, and they know it’s the last push before a bit of a reward and a bit of a break.”