Wigan make major Christian Wade selection call ahead of Castleford trip
Christian Wade could be in line for a Wigan debut this weekend.
Christian Wade has been included in a Wigan match-day squad for the first time ahead of the Warriors’ trip to Castleford Tigers on Saturday.
Wade has come through two reserve matches since switching to the club earlier this month having joined from rugby union heavyweights Gloucester.
Wigan head coach Matt Peet had admitted earlier this week that Wade wasn’t ‘a million miles away’ from being thrown in to make his Super League debut.
That moment now remains on the cards this weekend after Peet drafted Wade into the 21 to replace star half-back Bevan French, who is out injured.
“He seems very popular amongst the group, all the lads are speaking very highly of him,” Peet said on his pre-match press conference earlier this week. “He was good for the reserves at the weekend, he looks very natural to say he’s so new to the game.
“We’ll probably keep monitoring him in training and the reserves over the next week or two, but he could feature in the squad; he isn’t a million miles away.”
However, Wade is still unlikely to be given a chance at Castleford on Saturday evening. As pointed out by Peet this week, Wade is likely to be given at least one more game in Wigan’s reserves before the club throw him into the deep end and give him a Super League debut.
The likes of Zach Eckersley and Jacob Douglas will still be above Wade in the pecking order to feature on the right wing this weekend and with Liam Marshall overcoming an injury scare to take his place in the 21, it means a debut is still not quite imminent.
But it is clearly a big step for Wade to feature in a squad for the first time.
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