Lam previews Warrington

[josie andrews]

Adrian Lam looks ahead to the opening game of the Betfred Super League season against Warrington Wolves at the DW Stadium.

Lam: “We are at the point were everyone is excited.”

Wigan Warriors V Warrington Wolves, Thurs 30th January, K.O. 19:45, DW Stadium.

Adrian Lam is hoping his Wigan Warriors side can ‘set the scene’ for the new Betfred Super League season as they take on Warrington Wolves in a big opening day clash at the DW Stadium.

After a tough start to the campaign away from home last year, the Warriors Head Coach is pleased to be at home for the game against the Wolves, but admits they must seize the opportunity.

Lam said: “We played St Helens in Round 1 last year on a cold snowy night, and we were away from home against Warrington three times, so we have the opportunity here at home to set the scene to get the season going.

“I hope all the Wigan fans get out in big numbers to support us. We feel that we will play some real good open rugby when the weather dries up and we will be playing a good brand, so hopefully people will come out in their colours and get right behind us.”

Lam is looking forward to the start of the new campaign and is excited to see how the new players at his disposal will improve the squad.

“It has been a long pre-season but now we are at the point of the year where everyone is excited. Everyone has had a break and have recruited some fresh players to strengthen up. You won’t see our best rugby but as the weeks go on, we will improve and get better and better.

“I feel that our squad is a lot stronger than it was last year, we’ve promoted a lot of our young academy players and we topped up at the ever end with some great recruits. The team is 12 months down the track since I took over so we should be in a better place for the philosophy we want play, so we have to make sure the performances come out.”

The boss says he has a pretty good idea of the team he will pick in the mouth-watering opening game of the season.

“All the players have had a fair amount of time between them in pre-season, so we’ve settled nicely on a strong squad to take on Warrington. We will be without a few senior players in Oliver Gildart, Ben Flower and Dom Manfredi, but the players coming in will certainly do a job.”

On Manfredi, Lam feels that the winger needs some more time to prepare after his return to the field in the pre-season friendly against Leigh Centurions last week, following a lengthy spell on the sidelines.

“It is a bit too soon for now, we will probably give him another two weeks then he will be available for the Toronto game. We are excited but we don’t want to rush him back, he’s had a bit of bad luck so fingers crossed he will be good to go.”

Lam finalised on how happy he has been with pre-season preparations and the game time everyone got.

“We probably could’ve played another game with our best 17 but it’s a long season and we didn’t want to risk injury, so hopefully we can get the job done. The Leigh game was to make sure the young players had some time on the field so we could have look in case we had missed one for this round one game.”

The Betfred Super League is finally back! Wigan Warriors host fierce rivals Warrington Wolves at the DW Stadium on Thursday (K.O. 7.30pm), as rugby league returns for 2020. There’s no love lost between these two giants of the game and WHAT a way to kick-off the new season!

We need your support as it promises to be another blockbuster encounter between two of Super League’s title chasers. Catch Steve Prescott Man of Steel Jackson Hastings and powerhouse prop George Burgess in the Cherry and White for the first time and purchase your ticket today by clicking HERE, visiting the DW Stadium Ticket Office or calling 01942 311111.

For more information on tickets for this game, click HERE.

There’s still time to grab your 2020 Season Ticket too! Pay upfront or spread the cost across 8 payments! For more info, click HERE.

https://www.wiganwarriors.com/news/2020 ... warrington