Super League: Wigan Warriors v Warrington Wolves preview
Last Updated: 03/10/14 10:45pm
Super League champions Wigan Warriors and Warrington Wolves will be looking to secure Grand Final returns on Friday when they renew acquaintances at the DW Stadium.
The Warriors have won two of the last four Old Trafford showdowns, including beating Tony Smith’s men just under 12 months ago after fighting back from 16-2 down to claim a remarkable 30-16 success.
Wigan also rallied in the final round of the regular season against the Wolves, eventually triumphing 24-20 having toppled Warrington 12-4 at the Halliwell Jones Stadium in Round 6.
But the Wolves head to Wigan with their tails up following playoff wins over Widnes and Castleford and the visitors would love a chance to exact a measure of revenge for last year’s Grand Final heartache.
Wigan coach Shaun Wane has brought prop Scott Taylor into his 19-man squad in place of Gil Dudson, but is set to stick with the team that beat Huddersfield in the qualifying playoff a fortnight ago.
"We don't want this to be our last game. Any game against Warrington is a big game, they're a big club and it's a local derby,” Wane told Wigan’s official website.
Massive game
“We know it's a massive game and we want to play another game at Old Trafford. We know how big this game is.
"It'll be a massive crowd and a great atmosphere, it always is when Warrington come. We just want to give our fans something to cheer about and if we play like we did against Huddersfield then we'll certainly do that."
Warrington will give full-back Matty Russell a late fitness check, with Stefan Ratchford ready to revert to loose forward if he makes it, but back-row forwards Ben Westwood and Simon Grix remain on the injury list.
“We’re two evenly matched teams who can produce some quality rugby league. Anything can happen on the day,” Higham told Warrington’s official website.
“Tony Smith has said we can use last year’s Grand Final loss as motivation if we want to. It still plays on my mind so it will be nice to get one over on them on Friday.
“I enjoyed my time at Wigan and I like going back to the stadium. The fans are fantastic there and they still make time to come and speak to me after games which is nice. I’m looking forward to Friday and hopefully plenty of our fans will be there to make it a cracker.”
Wigan Warriors: Bateman, Bowen, Burgess, Charnley, Clubb, Crosby, L. Farrell, Flower, Gelling, Green, Hughes, McIlorum, O'Loughlin, Pettybourne, Powell, Sarginson, Smith, Taylor, Tomkins.
Warrington Wolves: Asotasi, Atkins, C. Bridge, Currie, England, B. Evans, R. Evans, Harrison, Higham, Hill, Laithwaite, J. Monaghan, M. Monaghan, Myler, O'Brien, Ratchford, Russell, Waterhouse, Wood.
