Wigan Warriors youngster Tom Forber looks ahead to this weekend's pre-season meeting with Whitehaven

A young squad will head up to the Recreation Ground on Sunday afternoon (K.O. 3pm).

The Warriors will then name a similar team for the trip to Barrow Raiders on January 29, before a more senior side will face Salford Red Devils at the DW Stadium in Sam Powell’s testimonial match on February 5.

Forber said: “I’m really looking forward to the games.

“We’ve done all of the hard work so now it’s more about the technical side of it and getting into our structures.

“There’s a really big emphasis on our goal line defence, and then in our attacking shape it’s just about nailing the basics.

“It’s been a while since I’ve played, pre-season feels like it’s gone on for a while.

“There have been some tough long sessions so it will be good to get the ball in my hands at the weekend.

“Matty (Peet) is big on just playing what you see, so if I can spot something then I’m definitely going to take it; I’m not going to be in my shell or be reserved.

“If I take an opportunity and make a mistake, then I can work on my skill after.

“Matty would rather see us going for it than being too reserved.

“This is the first pre-season friendly so everyone will want to go out there and impress, because if you do well, you might get yourself a chance in the next game.

“I’m just really looking forward to it and hopefully I can get some good minutes to just rip in.”

Forber says he will use the experience from his loan spells last year to take up a leadership role in the upcoming pre-season games.

“I was lucky that I went on loan last year, because I know what it feels like to deal with the physicality,” he added.

“My first game away for Newcastle Thunder was Featherstone away.

“I got run over a few times but it was a good learning curve and you get used to it.

“It’s a lot different to the reserves, where we won all of our games and were on the front foot.

“It’s much more of an arm wrestle in the Championship, so you get match fit, so I felt strong when I came back.

“You learn how to win games over a long period because you’ve got to build into your sets and fight for that next try.

“I’ll probably take more of the lead of the young group on Saturday against Whitehaven, and try to help them through, explaining what it is going to be like.

“If the pitch is boggy then both teams will tighten up a lot. You will try to play a bit of expansive rugby but you’re not going to get a lot of free-flowing stuff, so I’d imagine it’ll be a tough physical game through the middle.

“It’ll be good to get some contact in there and just set your body.

“We’ve got a good reserve squad going up there. We played together a lot last year, so it’s a tight group and we will give them a good game.”