Lockdown can help youngsters mature, says Adrian Lam

Adrian Lam hopes the season’s shutdown will help his younger players mature.
Adrian LamAdrian Lam
Adrian Lam

Wigan’s players are now entering a fourth month of inactivity due to the coronavirus pandemic.

And they are set to have a few more weeks away from the club before they return to prepare for the Super League restart, scheduled for mid-August.

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All the players have had to take responsibility for their own training and Lam (below) thinks his younger players may reap the rewards down the track.

Last season the coach handed first-team debuts to a clutch of academy products, including Morgan Smithies, Ethan Havard and Harry Smith, who were in his line-up for their last match at Salford on March 13.

He explained: “We’ve got a lot of young players in our senior squad and at the end of the day, we know what they’re capable of in training and in playing.

“But they’ve been completely removed from that framework since the lockdown came in.

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“How have they handled it with nobody telling them what to do? Have they slackened off with nobody on their back?

“It’s a chance for some of the younger players to show us a different side of them, and we can see who the leaders are going forward.”