‘He is looking electric’ – Warrington boss talks first team return for Connor Wrench

Warrington coach Daryl Powell says centre Connor Wrench is ‘not too far away’ from making a return to first team action after an impressive comeback in the reserves.

The 21-year-old made his return from a nine-month ACL injury lay-off on Saturday. He scored two tries in his 40-minute spell for Warrington’s reserves against London Broncos.

Powell said: “He played half the game, 40 minutes. He looked sharp, scored a couple of tries, beat people consistently, defended pretty well and he is looking electric at the moment.

“Physically, he looks great so he did really well so we’ve just got to pick when the right time is for him but he isn’t far away.”

Connor Wrench return ‘not far away’

Wrench was due to play for the reserves again against Leigh this week but the match has been cancelled.

He won’t be part of Powell’s 21-man squad to face Catalans in the Challenge Cup this weekend and the Wolves boss says Wrench isn’t far away from being back in the first team.

Powell said: “We should have played Leigh reserves next week and that was in the plan for him but I think that game is off.

“I just need to get my head around when exactly he comes in. I’ve put a lot of thought in to it and sometimes it is dictated by other things like injuries.

“But he’s a genuine first team option now, it’s just we’ve got players playing really well at the moment and I’ll pick the right time for him to be in there. It’s not too far away I don’t think.

“He looked pretty sharp last week, but it is just about getting a little bit more conditioning in to his legs and then we’ll get him out there and see how he goes.

“I won’t loan him. I’m going to keep him with us. He’ll play with us, I’ve got to make the decision whether it’s next week or the week after.

“We’ve no reserve game next week, so I’ll make that call during the next week away but he’s not too far away.

“We know he can handle it, how I do that or where it fits, I just need to make sure it is best for the team as well.”

Warrington face Catalans at the Stade Gilbert Brutus in the Challenge Cup sixth round on Saturday, 6pm kick-off.

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