Wigan Warriors coach on influence of Willie Isa, emergence of Junior Nsemba, and injury update on Ethan Havard

That's the view of coach Matty Peet, who says the ankle fracture and dislocation suffered by the player at Castleford last weekend will not mean him disappearing into the background.

"We've been in touch with Willie over the phone, but there's no real detail to give as yet," reported Peet during his weekly press conference ahead of the league visit of Castleford on Friday night.

"Obviously we know it will be a long-term injury, and we'll allow him the time to heal.

"Willie has an exceptional mindset and approach to life, in and out of sport, and is mentally very strong.

"We'll just have to wait for all the information before we can get together and come up with the best plan of attack regarding his recovery.

"But what I do know about Willie is he will respond the right way, apply himself correctly, and he'll continue to be an asset to this team, this club, this group of players - whether he is available to play or not."

Junior Nsemba looks set to fill the void left by Isa at least in the short term, and Peet believes it's the perfect opportunity for the young man to continue his development.

"Yes, absolutely...and he would have done that anyway," said Peet. "But this has probably given Junior the prospect of more game time.

"It's going to challenge Junior, but I think he's ready for that.

"Willie will be really good at supporting him with that, educating him...that's just the kind of leader he is. The pair of them have a very strong relationship, and that is good for both of them."

Sylvester Namo has been banned for five matches for the tackle that caused Isa's horror injury at the Jungle.

The Warriors coach, however, believes the severity of the injury partly contributed to the length of suspension.

"I think it probably was," said Peet. "I don't think the player has set out to intentionally cause that injury to Willie.

"There was a clumsiness about it, and if Willie hadn't got injured, the ban probably wouldn't have been as severe.

"But I can understand why the ban was dished out, and I just think everyone wishes it hadn't happened."

Peet also provided an injury update on prop Ethan Havard, who has yet to feature this term after aggravating a hamstring problem in last year's Grand Final.

"Ethan is training well," he added. "But there's tests he's going through, to check the symmetry and strength in the two legs, and at the moment the leg he injured is still not where we want it to be.

"So we're not going to take any risks with that, we'll probably give him an extra couple of weeks on what we first said.

"He won't play this week or next week, but we'll be looking for probably the week after that."