Whitehaven V Wigan Warriors preview: Here is everything you need to know ahead of this weekend's pre-season game

The match will provide an opportunity for a number of players to give a good impression ahead of the new campaign.

It is also an important test for Whitehaven, as they prepare for the upcoming Championship season.

Who will be in action for Wigan?

The Warriors squad will be made up of players from the academy and the reserves.

This should include the likes of Tom Forber, Junior Nsemba and Harvie Hill.

A lot of the players who are set to be involved were part of last year’s Reserves Grand Final winning side.

The team coached by John Winder enjoyed an unbeaten season, which ended with the trophy lift at Robin Park Arena.

It is likely that John Duffy and Shane Eccles will take charge of the team for Saturday’s game.

The opposition:

Whitehaven finished 10th in the Championship last season, picking up 19 points in 27 games.

In total, they won nine, drew one and lost 17 in the league, but remained well ahead of the bottom two.

Meanwhile, in the Challenge Cup they reached the sixth round, before losing 46-4 to St Helens at the Recreation Ground.

Whitehaven enjoyed their first pre-season outing last weekend, as they beat Workington Town 22-6 in the Ike Southward Memorial Trophy.

The coach:

Jonty Gorley took over as Whitehaven head coach ahead of the 2022 season.

He had previously worked as an assistant for both the Marras and Workington Town.

As well as this, he also has a strong reputation across the amateur game up in Cumbria.

Previous meeting:

The last time the two clubs met was back in 2008, when Sam Tomkins scored five tries on his Warriors debut in a huge 106-8 victory in a Challenge Cup tie at the DW Stadium.

Final thoughts:

Saturday’s game will be an excellent experience for all of the players involved.

It will provide the youngsters with some much-needed minutes before the new season, as well as giving them a physical test.

There a number of exciting players currently in the Wigan squad, so it will be interesting to see if they can impress.