Warriors v Bulls: Teams
Wigan's Eamon O'Carroll is poised to play his first senior match for 15 months against Bradford on Friday, live on Sky Sports.
Last Updated: 19/08/11 2:03pm
Wigan's Eamon O'Carroll is poised to play his first senior match in 15 months against Bradford Bulls on Friday, live on Sky Sports.
The prop is finally fit enough to return to action following a sternum injury that threatened his career.
The 24-year-old picked up the problem when appearing for Wigan's second-string last year and has undergone surgery to correct the complaint.
However, after working hard in rehabilitation, O'Carroll now looks set to feature against Bradford with Maguire ready to rest some of his senior players ahead of next week's Challenge Cup final with Leeds.
"Everyone at the club is delighted to see Eamon back," stated Maguire. "He has had an extremely tough time with his injury but his never-say-die attitude to training and rehabilitation has been a shining example.
"I'm not sure people realise just what Eamon was facing. There was a time there when it was looking like his career could be over. Eamon thought it might all be over, just because of the unique nature of the injury.
"It's a credit to him that he's managed to get back to where he is at the moment."
Maguire has opted to give a break to Andy Coley, Brett Finch and Lee Mossop with Wembley in mind and so Paul Deacon, Jeff Lima and O'Carroll return to his squad.
Bateman in for Bulls
Bradford Bulls supremo Mick Potter has called up teenage forward John Bateman for what would be only his second Super League appearance.
Bateman earns his spot as a replacement for Elliott Whitehead, who starts a five-match ban after being found guilty of biting Hull KR forward Jordan Cox during the defeat at Odsal last Sunday.
"We see it as an opportunity to get the two points - that's all," said Potter. "To have better performance overall is the aim and hopefully that reflects on the scoreboard at the end."
Wigan (from): S Tomkins, Goulding, Carmont, Richards, Deacon, Leuluai, McIlorum, Hansen, J Tomkins, O'Loughlin, Prescott, Lima, Hoffman, O'Carroll, Farrell, Marsh, Charnley, Hughes, Hock
Bradford (from): Addy, Ah Van, Bateman, Burgess, Elima, Hargreaves, Herbert, Jeffries, Kearney, Kopczak, Langley, Lynch, O'Brien, Platt, Raynor, Royston, Scruton, Sibbit, Sykes
