Inside Bevan French’s Captain’s Run as mystery surrounds Wigan star

Bevan French spent Wigan’s Captain’s Run in and amongst the fun and games with the rest of the squad at Wembley, but no further clues were given as to his availability for the Challenge Cup final.

The Warriors have been without their star man since he tore his hamstring over in France away against Toulouse Olympique at the beginning of March.

His recovery timeframe has always been stated as being at least four weeks on from the Challenge Cup final, which the Cherry and Whites reached by beating rivals St Helens 32-0 in the semi-finals earlier this month.

Hull KR beat Wigan in last season’s Super League Grand Final last autumn, and are their opponents again at Wembley on Saturday afternoon, with a first-ever Challenge Cup final meeting to come.

Out of the blue, playmaker French was named in Peet’s initial 21-man squad for the trip to Wembley. And a little over 24 hours out from kick-off in the showpiece, his involvement still remains up in the air.

Inside Bevan French’s Captain’s Run as mystery surrounds Wigan star

The usual practice is for each head coach to address the media present at Wembley the day prior to the Challenge Cup final along with at least one player from each team.

Those interviews take place during Captain’s Run, which the Warriors opt to use as a familiarisation visit to the national stadium, as they are more than entitled to do so.

French enjoyed a game of cricket on the hallowed turf alongside the majority of his team-mates and members of staff during Friday afternoon’s visit to Wembley, while others including Junior Nsemba kicked a football about, loosening up ahead of a big day.

Boss Peet did not wish to speak about team news earlier this week, and was not put up for media duties during the familiarisation visit, with Jai Field and Ethan Havard made available to journalists – including LoveRugbyLeague – instead.

Field laughed when asked whether French would play and comedically insisted it ‘wasn’t his place to say’, but did have plenty of praise for his fellow Australian.

The full-back said of French: “I just think having him around the group and what he brings – he brings a lot of confidence to everyone.

“He’s a good lad to have around, and good for the young fellas, especially Jack (Farrimond) and Noah (Hodkinson), keeping them on the straight and narrow.

“It’s good having him around.”