Wigan Warriors quartet could return for St Helens derby as Junior Nsemba dealt injury setback

Wigan Warriors could welcome back as many as four players for Friday’s derby clash with St Helens, although they will be without key forward Junior Nsemba for longer than initially anticipated.

The Warriors are boosted by the return of versatile forward Sam Walters, who has completed serving the seven-match suspension he received following their Challenge Cup final win over Hull KR at Wembley back in May.

There is some positive news on the injury front, too, with star man Bevan French and experienced winger Liam Marshall in line to feature, having both been sidelined with hamstring injuries. Another potential returnee for Wigan is young talent Noah Hodkinson, who has missed the last three games with a fractured skull.

“Sam Walters has served his ban now, and Liam Marshall, Bevan French and Noah Hodkinson should all be in the mix,” said Peet. “We’ve got a few sessions to knock over yet, but hopefully they’ll be in contention.”

Wigan will be without young forward Kian McDermott, who will begin serving a two-match suspension following a Grade D head contact charge following last Friday’s 24-10 win at Huddersfield Giants.

“Kian got suspended, which is a shame for Kian,” Peet added. “I understand it, but just for him as a young player, really establishing himself in the team. He’s been valuable, so to lose him is a shame.”

French has missed a large portion of the season with two separate hamstring injuries, but his return would mark an undoubted boost for the Warriors.

“He’s a quality player,” Peet continued. “The players in those positions, I think to have a bit of consistency in those spine positions is a luxury we’ve not really had, but I feel like we’ve improved how we’ve dealt with that and some young players have stepped up, namely Jack (Farrimond) and George (Marsden), and Adam Keighran has played his part there as well, so it’s been a challenge without Bev.

“I’m not just talking about one individual, but having cohesion in those spine positions does have a big effect. We overcame the challenge last week of losing a few players in there and it was a tough game (at Huddersfield).”

However, there is grim news on the injury front for Nsemba, who is set to miss around five more weeks with the hamstring injury he sustained in Wigan’s win over Saints at Magic Weekend three weeks ago.

“Junior has had a setback,” said Peet. “It’s going to be a while yet, probably around five weeks from now. We rescanned it, and it’s not where it needed to be.

“It’s disappointing. Every club is going through it, but it doesn’t make it any easier. For the players and coaches, particularly the players, you see it across the competition... These lads commit so much. I’m not just talking about Junior, but whenever you see a lad get injured, it’s disappointing, isn’t it? We all want to see the talent on the field.

“This competition is certainly about durability, timing of things and how you can keep the train on the tracks through those periods, which every club is going through.”