Warrington’s treble injury blow confirmed as Mikey Lewis tackle leaves Ewan Irwin hurt

Mikey Lewis’ studs-up challenge on Ewan Irwin has left lasting damage on the teenage star, with two of his Warrington Wolves team-mates also sidelined.

Tuesday night saw Wire record a 34-28 victory at Craven Park against reigning Super League champions Hull KR.

The victory came in a re-arranged midweek clash which came in the middle of three games in just ten days, and saw Sam Burgess’ third-place side keep their top-two hopes alive as well as opening up a gap to the chasing pack.

But the success came at the cost of three players, who are all expected to miss Sunday afternoon’s home clash against Huddersfield Giants: and Irwin is among them.

Mikey Lewis tackle leaves Ewan Irwin hurt

Former Man of Steel Lewis was sin-binned when Wire beat KR on home soil last month, and picked up a four-match ban on the back of that game following a headbutt on Josh Smith and a late hit on Irwin.

Fast forward to Tuesday night, and making his return from suspension, Lewis was shown yellow again – this time for making contact with his studs on Irwin’s ankle as he attempted to charge down a kick.

Again, Lewis has been banned: with his two-game suspension coming into play following this weekend’s games, though his head coach Willie Peters has dropped him entirely for their upcoming clash against Toulouse Olympique as a consequence of his actions.

Wire boss Burgess admitted his anger at the challenge on Irwin after the midweek game, and in Friday morning’s pre-match press conference ahead of their clash against Huddersfield, provided the latest on his young half-back.

Burgess explained: “Ewan had to go for scans and X-rays yesterday. We’re still waiting on those results.

“He’s not walking too good, so I’d say he’ll be in a bit of doubt for this week, at least.”

Elsewhere, Josh Thewlis was forced off at Craven Park with a hamstring issue while Toafofoa Sipley suffered an ankle injury.

Burgess detailed: “Josh isn’t as bad as we first thought. He’ll probably push to play against Hull FC next week, so he’s out for Sunday.

“If it’s not next week, he’ll definitely be back for Wakefield after that.

“With Toff, we’re still waiting for results. He got scanned yesterday, so we should know any time today. We’ll have to wait and see.”

Squad update

Warrington face back-to-back trips to Hull FC and Wakefield Trinity following Sunday’s home game against Huddersfield, who have won four games on the spin.

The Wolves conclude their regular season back on home soil against French outfit Toulouse Olympique on September 11.

On his roster for the upcoming meeting with the Giants, Burgess added: “There’s a few guys that won’t play, but the majority of the squad are okay.

“Those three (Irwin, Sipley and Thewlis) are probably the three, but other than that, everyone is keen to keep the momentum going.

“We’ll be smart if they need saving… Luke Thomas was due to play on Tuesday, for example, but we made a call at Captain’s run as he wasn’t moving well enough.

“That may be the case tomorrow (Saturday), there may be a couple of guys not moving well and we’ll make a call.

“Yatesy (Luke Yates) probably won’t play, as medically, we can’t clear him just yet.

“Philbs (Joe Philbin) is there or thereabouts, so he’ll be touch and go. If he doesn’t play on Sunday, he’ll play next week (against Hull FC).”

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