Liam Farrell ready to step into the 'unknown' with Wigan Warriors

Liam Farrell enjoyed a good season last year

But after more than a decade at the frontline of Super League action, the back-rower has learned it is hard to predict what may unfold.

Wigan are strongly fancied by bookmakers, pundits and many fans to be one of the front-runners this season.

Yet Farrell is taking nothing for granted and admits the uncertainty over all the teams is part of the sport’s appeal.

Farrell said: “There’s always the unknown.

“Do we have a good squad? Yes.

“Have we had a good pre-season? Yes.

“But I’ve gone into some seasons with a squad thinking this is the best I’d been involved in and come away with a lot less than some other times, when we’ve gone into it with injuries, been depleted along the way and ended up with a Grand Final.

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“There’s so much goes into it, luck, injuries, so many variables.

“What I can say is if you have players who can compete for each other you give yourself a very good chance, and we’ve definitely got that. We’re as good as we can be at this point.”

One of those variables, of course, is the quality of the opposition Wigan must beat to land trophies this season.

And with St Helens looking as formidable as ever and Warrington, Hull FC, Leeds and Huddersfield among those to recruit big names, Farrell expects a fiercely-competed Super League.

“Some teams have signed a lot of players but we’ve seen that in the past - sometimes they look good and don’t do it, other times you think a side may struggle and they’ve come from nowhere and challenged,” said the 30-year-old.

“That unpredictability is what makes it so good as well.”

Farrell expects Leigh to be super-charged by their return to the Super League spotlight. For many of their players, it will be their first competitive match in a year while the squad head into their opener written off by many pundits.

“They will come out flying and trying to put us under pressure,” said the England international.

“”We know they’ll put us under the pump but if we start well, I think we’ll give ourselves a good shout.”