Abbas Miski return a welcome boost for Wigan Warriors with 'underrated' trait highlighted by teammate

The Lebanon winger made his return to the field in Wigan’s impressive 28-12 win over Hull KR following a four-match absence due to an old knee injury he has been nursing since Wigan’s return to British shores following their Las Vegas extravaganza in early March.

Miski, who finished as Super League’s top try-scorer in 2023, produced a solid display in his first game back in the Craven Park cauldron on Friday night, scoring the final try of the game to seal the two points for Matt Peet’s side.

But it was his tireless work in the backfield that stood out, making 133 metres from 22 carries whilst busting nine tackles. Miski is known for his dogged work out of yardage, and his return was welcomed by his teammate Bevan French.

“I think he took a lot of pressure off our young right edge,” said French. “We’ve had Zach (Eckersley) and young Jacob Douglas playing there as well.

“It took a lot of pressure off Zach with his backfield carries and everyone else.

“I think his carries are something that we’ve really missed, it’s an underrated thing in rugby league, having a winger that can get up out of anywhere.

“You always score your points down the other end of the field, obviously, but it starts with those first carries in the backfield, and it gets you in good field position more often than not. I know the boys have missed him, so it was really good to have him back.”

Next up for the Warriors is the small matter of the annual Good Friday derby clash with St Helens at a sold-out Brick Community Stadium, with a 24,000-plus crowd expected.

It is third versus second in the Super League table, with both sides five wins from seven in the league, so what has French made of Wigan’s campaign so far?

“It’s obviously disappointing to be out of the Cup, but it’s down to us to learn from those lessons that we keep speaking about week-to-week,” he replied.

“I feel like we did last weekend and a few times at the start of the season in Vegas and things like that. We’re aware of the different magnitude of each game, we’ve been pretty blessed to play in a lot of big games over the last couple of years, being the first (Super League game) in Vegas and it’s a big build-up and everything like that, so those games between when you lack a bit are the games you need to take lessons out of.

“We’re blessed again that we’ve got another game of big magnitude coming up this week, so that’s where we tend to be at our best, but it’s the ones in between when we tend to have our lapses.”

For those who haven’t been able to get a ticket for Good Friday, the derby will be shown live on Sky Sports Main Event and Action, 3pm kick-off.