Wigan Warriors vs Salford Red Devils
Super League - Friday 4th May – DW STADIUM– KO 8PM
This next fixture couldn’t come quick enough for the coaches and players at Salford. After a humbling defeat against high flying St Helens by 60-10 a week ago, the lads will be keen to get back on the rugby field to hopefully exorcize the ghosts of last Thursday.
Having said that, the task will not be an easy one, having to travel to the DW stadium to face perennial top 4 team, Wigan. Couple that with Coach Ian Watson having to juggle his squad yet again and all signs point to another tough game for Salford.
The Red Devil’s will have something of the wounded animal about them after the St Helens match and therefore, Warriors Coach Sean Wayne will know better than to underestimate his opponents. Last season at the DW a rampant Red Devils got the better of his depleted Wigan side. It is very much role reversal this time round with Salford likely to field a weakened team from the 1st 17 that Watto would like.
With both 19’s announced let’s look at some of the match ups to see if the Reds will be able to get the edge.
Josh Wood v Thomas Leuluai
Josh Wood has been Mr Consistency this year for Salford, being deployed in both the hooking role and the halves. With Watto having to juggle his squad for this fixture, it’s expected that Wood will have a starting berth as scrum half. So far his performances in this position have been excellent with tackling also a big highlight. Expect another strong game from him this Friday.
Wood will be up against one of the most experienced halves in the game this Friday, in Leuluai. The Wigan scrum half has won pretty much all there is to win domestically, as well as having a World Cup winners medal to his name. However, he is nearing his 33rd birthday and so may be nearing the end of his illustrious career. If Wood can get up in his face early and ensure he connects with his tackles, it may be possible to unsettle the New Zealander and take Wigan out of their rhythm.
Weller Hauraki v Joel Tomkins
Club Captain Weller Hauraki will be a welcome addition to Ian Watson’s squad being out for the past few weeks. His form before his absence was fantastic, culminating in a man of the match performance against Huddersfield where he scored one and set up another. If he’s in the starting 13 he will be hoping he can reproduce this form.
Joel, brother of our own Logan Tomkins has been one of Wigan’s most reliable players the last few seasons. He runs straight and hard and is able to get around the pitch for the full 80 minutes. He is also happy to offload in the tackle, something which the Salford tacklers will need to ensure they don’t let him do on either edge of the ruck, or the backs will be able to capitalise.
Junior Sa’u v Dan Sarginson
Fan’s favourite, Sa’u has put in another string of high class performances this season and never fails to give his all even in defeat. Some of the tackles he’s made already this season have forced many errors and the Salford faithful will be looking and hoping that this continues on Friday.
After a frustrating 2017 playing in the NRL for the Gold Coast Titans, Sarginson has slotted back in to life with the Warriors as though he’s never been away. Setting up and scoring tries in the free flowing back-line of the Wigan outfit is all in a days work and the Salford defence will have to ensure he’s stopped along with his colleagues on Friday.
Jake Shorrocks v Sam Tomkins
Jake is on loan from Wigan currently and has been involved in the squad for the past 4 or 5 weeks. He will most likely play as fullback this Friday and the Warriors will be keen to test him under the high ball after a few mistakes during the St Helens match last week. It’s certain that Ian Watson will have ensured that these issues that hurt the Salford performance last week will have been addressed on the training pitch and it’s now up to Shorrocks to move that practice onto the DW stadium and ensure he’s able to handle the pressure.
Sam Tomkins is an exceptionally evasive runner and excellent passer of the ball going forward. Wigan see him as one of the key pivots in the line and will ensure that he is able to join the attacks as often as possible to add a further dimension of the Warriors back-line. He is also excellent defensively and so putting him under as much pressure as possible with solid tactical kicking and chasing as a unit will be key if Salford are to force any mistakes from him.
STATS
As with last Thursday’s game, the Salford team have a makeshift feel about them, but Wigan will write them off at their peril, as I’m sure Watto will have them together as a solid unit defensively and ensure that they keep mistakes to a minimum.
The Red Devils will have something of the wounded animal about them after last week’s result and there will also be the added spice from the first game of the season, where they lost by 12-40 at the AJ Bell.
C’mon Salford!!!
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