Watch Warrington Wolves take on Catalans Dragons (6pm) followed by Wigan Warriors against Wakefield Trinity (8.15pm) live on Sky Sports Arena on Friday
Friday 25 September 2020 22:11, UK
We take a look at what is being said ahead of Friday's Super League matches, which see Warrington Wolves take on Catalans Dragons and Wigan Warriors face Wakefield Trinity…
Chris Chester has revealed Wakefield are considering going into their own short lockdown as the coronavirus pandemic continues to cause disruption for Super League clubs.
Two of their squad tested positive for covid-19 in the latest round of testing, with several other members of their squad being forced to stand down as a result.
Friday's match against Wigan at the Halliwell Jones Stadium is still set to go ahead, although Trinity are down to a bare 17-man squad for the match and head coach Chester believes a period of isolation for everyone at the club may be necessary.
"We need to have a look at what we're doing out on the field, whether we're doing everything possible to minimise the risk, and all the players need to look at what doing away from the club as well," Chester said.
"We spoke [on Thursday] about potentially locking ourselves down for four or five days to get rid of the virus that is lingering around the players at this moment in time.
"It would give us a chance to have a look at the training aspect and to give this place a real deep clean. If that's what it takes, then that's what we're going to have to do and fingers crossed that works for us."
Chester has also been dealt further blows on the injury front after receiving news the injury suffered by Liam Kay in the 29-6 defeat to Huddersfield will rule the winger out for the rest of the season as he needs a shoulder reconstruction.
Loan signing Eddie Battye, who earned Chester's praise for his debut display against the Giants, has been sidelined with a knee injury he picked up at the John Smith's Stadium as well.
However, winger Tom Johnstone returns to the fold for the clash with Wigan after five games out with an arm injury and second Matty Ashurst has cut short his paternity leave to bolster the squad for the match.
Friday's encounter with Wakefield is the start of a run of three games in the space of eight days for Wigan, including next Tuesday's derby clash with St Helens and the Challenge Cup semi-final against Leeds Rhinos the following Saturday.
That leaves head coach Adrian Lam with some difficult decisions to make over team selection as he is wary of the danger of injuries building up if too much is asked of his players over periods like this.
Recovery and rehabilitation for the squad has been made more complicated by the covid-19 restrictions at training, although Lam knows every other head coach in Super League will be facing similar conundrums.
"When you've got games close like this continuously, down the track in three or four weeks you'll numbers starting to build up from the experience I've had in the past," Lam said.
"For now, we've got to make sure we tick all the boxes in our preparation with making sure we're looking after the soft-tissue injuries. We can't even have massage at training, so all the recovery stuff is under the microscope as well.
"Only last week, you were allowed to get massaged but only specifically injured people. Everyone is doing it tough at the moment."
Lam does have prop Ben Flower back to face Wakefield after a two-match ban though, with Liam Byrne and Chris Hankinson returning to his 21-man squad as well.
Dom Manfredi misses out due to suffering a head knock in the win over Hull FC in the Challenge Cup, with Harry Smith and Mitch Clark also making way.
Daryl Clark returned to the Warrington side last Saturday to help them edge out St Helens to book their place in the Challenge Cup semi-finals.
The hooker missed the previous week's Super League win over Castleford Tigers due his partner giving birth, with Danny Walker taking his place and playing the full 80 minutes.
That is something Clark is accustomed to as well, although both featured in the 20-18 win over Saints and are set to do so again against Catalans Dragons in Friday's Super League match, with Walker impressing last year's Lance Todd Trophy winner.
"Danny's a quality player," Clark told the Warrington Guardian. "He shows that week in, week out in training and he's only going to get better.
"As a player, I like being on the field as much as I can and playing long minutes. That's not always ideal for the likes of Danny or any back-up hookers.
"He's shown he can play long minutes if needed so having two nines who can do that is good for us as a team."
Meanwhile, Wolves head coach Steve Price welcomes half-back Gareth Widdop back into his 21-man squad after the Great Britain and England international missed their past three matches. That sees Stefan Ratchford drop out, with Matty Ashton set to continue at full-back.
Last Friday's golden point loss to Salford Red Devils in the Challenge Cup quarter-finals made it back-to-back defeats for Catalans Dragons.
Steve McNamara's side remain among the contenders for a top-four finish on the points percentage-adjusted Super League table though and take on another of those sides in Warrington on Friday.
It will be the first time the Dragons have met the Wolves in 2020 and their head coach is keen to avoid the slips which he felt led to last week's Cup exit.
"We were quite clearly in control for probably 30 minutes and then we let a couple of tries in...through people missing one-on-one tackles," McNamara said.
"We were in control, we lost that control and regained it again, then at eight points up in a Cup quarter-final we stopped playing."
McNamara welcomes winger Tom Davies back into his 21-man squad for the match.
