Smith and Green have big acts to follow at Wigan

Wigan pair Josh Charnley and Sam Tomkins say half-backs Brett Finch and Thomas Leuluai are a big loss to the club.

Both signed deals to move to the NRL for 2013 onwards, with Finch returning to Melbourne Storm after seeing out his two-year-contract at the DW stadium and Leuluai moving closer to his family and signing for New Zealand Warriors.

But Head Coach Shaun Wane has already snapped up suitable replacements in the shape of Hull KR’s Blake Green and Salford’s Matty Smith.

Charnley said: “It is a massive loss. We have lost two of our half backs so we’ve got two new half backs. Matt Smith has filled in well so hopefully we will come back next year and see how everything starts, nothing will change.

“There will be the same aggression but it will be different, hopefully the people we’ve signed can live up to the people who have gone. Wigan have got a lot of young lads coming through. They could possibly fill in so they will hopefully do well for us.”

Charnley’s Wigan teammate, Sam Tomkins, reiterated the same points but also spoke of the prospect of a number of the younger members of the squad stepping up to the challenge.

Tomkins added: “They are big losses to the club, the new players we bring in are going to get bigger and better so we can push for the title next year. A number of our younger players will hopefully go onto become superstars in the future.”

Warriors centre George Carmont, who announced his retirement from rugby league at the end of last season, could yet reverse his decision after fielding offers from clubs in both the NRL and Super League.