Wane expects Gelling to use time out to improve

Wigan coach Shaun Wane has confirmed that centre Anthony Gelling will be absent for around six to eight weeks, after tearing his hamstring in last week’s game against Wakefield.

The Warriors coach now wants to Gelling to use that time to reflect on his performances, and find ways of improving his consistency and concentration.

“He’s going to be six to eight weeks, he has torn it in a couple of places,” Wane said.

“It’ll give him time to reflect on his game, because he does some great things and he does some poor things.

“He needs to concentrate the Wigan way, and he’s still concentrating the New Zealand Warriors way at times.

“You can’t do that here.

“But we’re getting better. He’s improving with his concentration.”

Wane has no doubt that the players who do feature in his team will be able to comensate for Gelling’s absence.

“We’ll be strong. We’ll put Joel [Tomkins] in there, and John Bateman in the back row, with Larne Patrick at loose forward,” he explained.

“We’ve got Rhodri Lloyd coming in. We’ve got some good players.

“Oliver Gildart is on loan at Salford at the moment, who’s playing well.

“It’s life, players get injured, and I’m just looking forward to seeing how Joel and John Bateman work together.”