With Jarrod Sammut gone, what are Wigan Warriors' halfback options for 2020?

We saw too little of it, sadly, and after playing just 14 games last season he has been released with a year to go on his contract and signed with Championship outfit Leigh Centurions.

It’s a shame, because I’d looked forward to seeing Sammut sparkle for Wigan.

He has that maverick quality, that touch of unpredictability, and when he signed I thought he'd be a good fit for the attacking style Adrian Lam wanted to introduce.

But a coach should have every right to pick the side he trusts the most – it’s the coach’s neck on the block, after all.

And he soon settled on Thomas Leuluai, the vastly-experienced Kiwi with the dynamite shoulder, as his preferred choice, with Sam Powell playing long minutes at hooker.

Leuluai, possibly entering his final season as a player, would seem the early favourite to start at halfback alongside Man of Steel Jackson Hastings, who has been recruited to replace another marquee player, George Williams.

But Lam has admitted he probably won't settle on his first-choice spine until both Hastings and full-back Zak Hardaker - who both played for Great Britain - return in the New Year, and he sees how the players link-up.

So what are his options?

Leuluai can play just as well (some say better) at hooker, and a move to that role - with Powell on the bench - would see another player enter the mix.

Bevan French has been given the No.6 shirt, and played spells in that role at the end of last season. But Lam has a separate issue to resolve; whether to start the Australian utility at full-back, in a move which would allow Hardaker to move to centre - a scenario which looks more likely now Oliver Gildart will miss the opening third of the season through injury.

Jake Shorrocks has made no secret of the fact he is hunting a regular role, either starting at halfback or off the bench (in a move which would probably see Leuluai move to dummy-half, as Powell is spelled).

By his own admission, Shorrocks didn't show what he is capable of when he returned from injury at Wigan, but the club rate him highly - as they do another halfback.

Harry Smith was one of a clutch of academy players to make his debut for Wigan last term, and sealed the occasion with a try. Many have tipped Smith for a bright future, even before he starred for England academy against the Australian Schoolboys 12 months ago.