Wigan Warriors stalwart Liam Marshall opens up on injury return and Jake Wardle reunion

Liam Marshall admits returning from a lengthy injury lay-off has made him appreciate every minute back on the field after the Wigan Warriors stalwart spent three months on the sidelines with a hamstring injury.

The 30-year-old winger suffered the injury during Wigan’s defeat to Warrington Wolves on April 24 and was ruled out until making his comeback in the Warriors’ derby victory over St Helens a fortnight ago.

Marshall has since featured in the Battle of the Borough win over Leigh Leopards as Matt Peet’s side continues to build momentum heading into the closing stages of the regular season.

Reflecting on his return, Marshall admitted it had been a difficult few months watching on from the sidelines.

“It was obviously nice (to be back),” he said.

“It was a pretty long lay-off, it was probably the first time in around five years that I’ve had a long lay-off, so it’s been different and challenging just watching from the sidelines and not being able to be out there, so to get back fit and to come back in a Wigan-Saints derby and win is probably a dream return.”

Marshall revealed the St Helens fixture became a realistic target once his rehabilitation had progressed as planned.

“Only probably in the last month or so, when we knew everything was sort of on track and there weren’t any delays,” Marshall said when asked if the Saints derby was always the target for his comeback. “We started to look at the fixtures, and it dropped nicely that it was Saints at home, so it was a good fixture to come back to.”

Watching his team-mates was far from a relaxing experience for the chirpy winger.

“Rubbish! Just shouting and screaming,” he laughed when asked how he felt watching the games from the sidelines.

“We try to nip into the chairman’s suite for the home games, and I forget that a lot of people have paid a lot of money to be in there, so I’m not the best watcher! But what helps is that the lads have played so well, and that has made it easier for me to be on the sideline.”

Despite being unavailable, Marshall was happy to let the youngsters who stepped into the side find their own way.

“I’ve been sort of open and welcoming if they’ve wanted anything,” he continued. “But to be fair, the lads who have come in are pretty chilled and laid-back characters and I didn’t want to overcrowd or overshadow them with any more information than what they needed, and they were doing so well, so it didn’t feel like I needed to say anything.”

One of those players was young talent Noah Hodkinson, whose performances ensured Marshall knew there would be no guarantees when he returned.

“Yeah definitely,” he said when asked if he expected a battle to regain his place in the 17.

“I think no matter how old you are or how many games you’ve played, there’s always going to be competition for places in this team just because of how good our youth set-up is and how good the lads are coming through, so I know I need to be on my game because there’s lads who have been there and done it before now who are ready to go and play.”

Marshall admitted the rehabilitation process provided long and tedious days, but had to be done.

“I was just getting through my recovery and resting up at home, so not much,” he added.

“I don’t really have any other hobbies and obviously when you’re injured there’s nothing much you can do, so it was literally just come in, do a bit of running, get a bit of treatment and exercise and go home, and it was that for about 10 weeks, so it was pretty tedious in the end!”

His return has also reunited him with long-time centre partner Jake Wardle after injuries limited their time together earlier in the campaign.

“We played Cas away and he got injured, and when he came back at Warrington, we got about 10 minutes and then I went off injured, so (St Helens) was the first game we’ve played the full game together since Round One of the season,” Marshall said.

“We’ve been lucky since Wardle signed in 2023, we’ve played pretty much every game bar a couple together, so we had a good run and we’re just both hoping we can strike up a bit of form together and both stay fit and kick on for the rest of the season.”

With Wigan traditionally finishing seasons strongly, Marshall hopes the Warriors can maintain their recent momentum, but believes staying healthy will be just as important.

“I don’t know,” he said when asked why Wigan always seem to find another level during August and September during the business end of the regular season.

“We’re hoping we can kick on and keep the form we’ve had. We’ve had a good run of results since I got injured, I don’t think we’ve lost a game bar that Hull KR away one, so we’re hoping we can keep the form.

“I think a big part of this backend of the season will be keeping lads fit. I think you’ve seen across the competition, injuries have been high and teams that can have the fittest squad going into the backend of the year will probably be the team that are challenging.”