Wigan Warriors injury update as Matt Peet provides detailed report on quartet
Wigan Warriors coach Matt Peet has provided a detailed injury update on key quartet Harry Smith, Abbas Miski, Sam Eseh and Oliver Wilson.
Halfback Smith underwent surgery on a wrist injury following England’s Ashes series against Australia last autumn – but he is set to be fit for Wigan’s opening game of the season against Castleford Tigers on February 15.
“Harry had an operation on his wrist,” said Peet. “He has just had the wires out of that, and he will be good for the start of the season.”
Experienced winger Abbas Miski also went under the knife in the off-season, having suffered a hamstring injury in Wigan’s Grand Final defeat against Hull KR.
“Abbas tore his hamstring in the first half of the Grand Final, actually, which he had operated on,” Peet explained.
Meanwhile, prop Sam Eseh suffered an ankle injury during the early weeks of pre-season training – but the good news is that he shouldn’t miss too much action at the start of the campaign, if any at all.
“Sam dislocated his ankle,” Peet added. “It was really innocuous… He was just backpedalling, fell into a heap and was in a lot of pain.
“The scans came back much more positive than we anticipated, so he has a chance for the start of the season, in and around that round one or two mark.
“He looks in fantastic shape, actually. He has been working very hard in the gym and on the bike, but he’s not been able to get to the field sessions with the lads, which is a shame, but I’ve been really impressed by his attitude since then.”
The biggest injury blow for Wigan is surrounding new signing Oliver Wilson, who suffered a cruel season-ending Achilles injury just a couple of weeks into pre-season training with his new teammates.
“It’s a bad one for us,” said Peet. “A new signing, he was looking fantastic in training, settling in really well, but it was probably his second or third week training with the lads.
“He was just setting off a line, and he went down – everyone heard it – and as soon as you hear that noise and you see him go down complaining about his Achilles, you fear the worst.
“It’s season done for Oliver, which is a shame, but it’s very important that we all get around him as players, staff and supporters… Make him feel welcome at the club because it’s a long, lonely road for him to come to a new club. He was determined to make an impact, and it’s going to take a little bit longer than we all hoped.
“Up until the injuries to Sam and Oliver, it was run of the mill end of season stuff, but those two have been blows, no doubt.”
Peet also confirmed that young hooker Tom Forber is back in full training after having his 2025 campaign cut short due to a wrist injury, which required surgery.
Wigan get their 2026 Super League campaign underway with a trip to the OneBore Stadium to face Castleford Tigers on Sunday, February 15.