There is plenty of squad news this week. After a depleted side took to the field against St Helens last week, Steve Price has recalled the regulars - Daryl Clark, Mike Cooper, Jason Clark, Declan Patton and Joe Philbin are all back into the 19-man squad, while Tom Lineham also returns after being suspended. Youngsters Riley Dean, Josh Thewlis and Luis Johnson, Pat Moran all don't make it, and Luther Burrell is dropped too. Danny Walker picked up an injury last week and is unavailable, while Jack Hughes, Blake Austin and Josh Charnley also continue to recover from injuries.
Also this week, we have seen two departures in the form of Ryan Atkins and Kevin Brown, who have departed to Wakefield and Leigh respectively. Atkins has been a great servant and is the club's fifth highest all-time tryscorer. While he has tailed off in the last few years, it is still the end of an era for a player who has been at the club since 2010. Brown joined the club in 2017 and had a brilliant debut, scoring in a win over Brisbane Broncos in the World Club Series. Brown had a disappointing 2017 and 2018 before being ruled out of the whole of 2019 with injury on the eve of the season. Now that he is fit, he is being shipped out to Leigh on loan, which seems bizarre given our current situation at half back. Brown is likely to join Salford next season. Best of luck to Ryan and Kevin at their new clubs!
Now, onto my selection for the Wigan game:
Full Back - 1 Stefan Ratchford
Ratchford has been our best player in each of the last three games and is the only one providing any creativity at the minute. His two assists last week came from a pair of killer passes out wide and this skill is likely to be crucial to any chance of victory.
Winger - 2 Tom Lineham
Personally, I would've kept Josh Thewlis in the team after a very good performance last week, but Lineham is back in the squad and will almost certainly start out wide. The key thing for him is no suspensions.
Centre - 3 Bryson Goodwin
One of the few constants in our team at the minute is Goodwin. He may be departing at the end of the year, but he hasn't let his performance level drop off. No doubt that he'll be starting.
Centre - 18 Toby King
I think we missed King a bit last week, Luther Burrell was all over the place, and King is a consistent performer. While he doesn't always aid the winger, he is excellent under the high ball and has been good in the big games against Wigan this year - keeping Oliver Gildart quiet three times out of three.
Winger - 22 Jake Mamo
Mamo is a difficult one at the minute. He is so error-prone defensively but is a good finisher and has bagged nine tries this season. Hopefully he is solid under the high ball of George Williams. With no Josh Charnley, Mamo will surely keep his place on the wing.
Stand Off - 33 Matty Smith
With Riley Dean left out and Blake Austin injured, Smith will make his second appearance for Warrington, and again it will be against one of his former clubs. I want to see a far better performance than last week, which hopefully he will be able to produce after a full week of training.
Scrum Half - 15 Declan Patton
Patton has been re-introduced to the squad after sitting out last week's defeat to St Helens. Hopefully he and Smith can form something of a partnership, though it isn't exactly the most inspiring on paper.
Prop - 8 Chris Hill
Hill has done well to be available for this one after limping off at the end of the Saints game. I want to see big metres from him to help us win the forwards battle, and most importantly, some improved discipline.
Hooker - 9 Daryl Clark
Having Clark back in the team gives us a huge advantage in comparison to last week. He has been sensational in all three games against Wigan this season and is absolutely essential to our chances here.
Prop - 10 Mike Cooper
Restoring Cooper to the team certainly gives us a stronger forward pack. His metres post-contact are excellent and with Wire losing so many games in the forwards, his presence should help us.
Second Row - 11 Ben Currie
Thankfully, Currie is available for this game after coming off the field injured very early in the St Helens game. The second rower is a big tackler and hopefully can produce a good performance here, particularly defensively against the threat of Wigan's attack.
Second Row - 20 Harvey Livett
I thought Livett did very well last week, and I'd have no issues with him starting again this time out. For me, Ben Murdoch-Masila hasn't done enough to warrant a place in the squad, and so in the absence of Hughes, I'd be fine with Livett playing. His tackle busts were very good, and in terms of his own tackling, he didn't miss a single one. Would've had a try or two but for a mistake late on, too.
Loose Forward - 14 Jason Clark
Prior to last week, Jason Clark had gone some way to cementing the loose forward position as his own, with three consecutive starts there and some decent performances. I imagine he will be restored and hopefully he can continue in the vein of form he was in.
Interchange - 23 Matt Davis
I think Matt Davis has quietly been one of our best players this season. He always goes about his business well, is a very hard worker, and an excellent tackling machine. A great option to deploy from the bench.
Interchange - 17 Joe Philbin
Ideally, Philbin will come onto the pitch after Hill and Cooper have laid good foundations for the game with their early work, similar to the cup semi-final.
Interchange - 19 Sitaleki Akauola
I am starting to see very little point in having both Akauola and Murdoch-Masila on the bench at the same time, as they are too similar, so I picked Akauola because I think he is contributing a lot more in terms of both defence and attack.
Interchange - 34 Ben Westwood
Because of his legendary status and length of service, I'd be happy for Westwood to play every game from now until the end of the season and finish his career with plenty of playing time. I actually think he did well against Saints last week and was one of our better forwards. He has previously said that Wigan away is his favourite fixture, so hopefully he can go out with a bang in this one.
We've had three brilliant wins over Wigan already this season, two in the league (one at home, one at Anfield) and one in the cup (at home). This is our first trip to the DW Stadium this year. Wigan started the season terribly but as expected, have grown as the year has gone on, and are now just two points behind us after a great run of form. With George Williams, they have one of the most dangerous half backs in the league, and in Zak Hardaker, one of Super League's best full backs in both attack and defence. I have been particularly impressed with Willie Isa in the second row this season, while Oliver Gildart is an obvious threat - one of the best centres around. Joe Burgess and Liam Marshall have been in fine scoring form this year, while they have recently added the exciting Bevan French to their ranks. I feel that forwards-wise, they could be a little vulnerable, as we have been, and so the battle of the packs will be crucial, as ever. We are going to need our forwards to have a big impact on the game, and we also need a positive approach and to play some neat, attacking rugby, which has been lacking for a while.
I know that all the focus is on Wembley, but our league form is utterly disgraceful at the minute and we haven't even secured a play-off place yet, let alone 2nd place. If we were to lose to Wigan, they would be level on points with us and we would only be ahead on points difference - and there would be a very strong chance that we finish behind both Hull FC and Wigan. Salford, Castleford and Catalans aren't too far behind either, so we really need to get our act together in the league, and it starts with this one - a real must-win fixture.
It's always our year.
Daniel (@aloosewire)
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