Wigan Warriors ace following Billy Slater path!

The 24-year-old utility back joined Wigan from NRL outfit Parramatta towards the end of last season, which has helped him to hit the ground running this term in the No.1 berth.

Starring roles in two of the first three games – against Warrington and Toronto – have already led to some suggesting he’s a frontrunner for the Steve Prescott Man of Steel award.

French has three tries on the board heading into Sunday’s trip to Hull, and he knows that’s one of the key areas against which he’ll be judged.

“All the great fullbacks over the past, their assists and tries scored are through the roof,” he said.

“Fitness levels have got to be up to scratch. It’s something I continue to work on over the upcoming season.

“Personally, I think it’s another thing – being more present and on the ball and in the moment.

“Obviously you don’t train for those sorts of things in the week so you’ve got to be in the moment and be able to react to whatever happens.”

When asked which full-backs, if any, he’d modelled his game on, French replied: “There’s quite a few.

“Everyone’s got their own potential and all their attributes.

“One I related to most was Matty Bowen and he was here (at Wigan) obviously.

“I think his type of football … just quick off the mark, not a big body, you try and take things out of that game.

“Obviously Billy Slater, the greatest of all-time...I try and take out what he’s done.

“But I don’t think it just comes down to one. You try to study a bit of everyone.”

Warriors got back to winning ways last Thursday against Toronto, who stayed in the game for an hour before being blitzed in the final quarter.

It was a welcome return to form after the defeat at Castleford the previous weekend.

“The performance was better than Cas, but there’s still a lot to improve on,” acknowledged French.

“We can’t be happy with that performance if we want to go on and win the Championship.

“Obviously we’re happy with the two points. The penalties and errors cost us last week, it limited our time with the football and it was good to get that under control and we could play a bit.

“We’re not far off where we want to be, we’re close to an 80-minute game.

“But there were a couple of penalties we could have avoided, and once we get those under control we’ll get some consistency.

“We’re not making excuses but the team we trained with all pre-season – the spine especially – we’ve only played together for 20 or 25 minutes (owing to Sam Powell’s injury).

“There are a few I want to build combinations with. That’s your role as a fullback, you’ve got to be floating around the ball at all times or trying to.

“Me, Jackson and Faz have formed a little relationship there on that edge.

“Lockers is another one through the middle that I want to try and work on a little bit more but that will come over time.

“The spine that we trained with all pre-season, we’ve only played with for 25 minutes or so this year. Over time it will come.”