Zak back to crack Leeds, hopes Warriors pal

The ex-Rhinos duo return to their old stomping ground looking for a positive result to lift Wigan back to the top of the fledgling Super League table.

Hardaker has been one of the stand-out players in the competition so far, with many tipping him to secure an England World Cup spot at the end of the year.

And Singleton says the only thing to do with Hardaker at the moment is keep giving him the ball as much as possible.

“I’m very close with Zak, and I can tell from his game he’s absolutely on fire at the minute,” Singleton said. “You can tell how fit and strong he is, and the results are there to see.

“When he’s on it, he’s an incredible athlete and a big threat to the opposition. Hopefully as far as we’re concerned he looks like he’s in the form of his life and long may it continue.”

Hardaker has been playing full-back in the early weeks of the campaign, with Bevan French having been given an extended break in Australia.

Now the Aussie flyer is back in the squad, Adrian Lam has a selection problem in whether to ease French in gently or switch Hardaker to the centres.

“I’d much rather him have that decision than me,” laughed Singleton. “You’ve got two world-class full-backs and that can only be good for us.”