Assessing the full-back options at Wigan Warriors after the injury blow at Jai Field

Wigan Warriors have been dealt a significant injury blow, with star news defender Jai Field facing a number of weeks on the sidelines with a hamstring problem.

Field is expected to be out for at least a month, giving Matt Peet quite a headache when it comes to mapping out potential replacements.

Some are simple straight trades for Field and would provide less of a rotation headache. But others would prompt Wigan to consider picking up options for a number of replacements. Here are the potential scenarios Peet can consider in the coming days with Friday’s clash at Castleford.

Direct exchange

Peet may be tempted to keep the rotation to a minimum – especially with games against Castleford and London on the short-term horizon.

That would mean bringing in someone from outside the 17 to facilitate Field’s injury, and the obvious candidate is Ryan Hampshire, who played there in the win over Warrington Wolves the week before Wembley.

It would also be grossly unfair to judge Hampshire’s performance in that game and assume that is the only measure of his ability; players need to play regularly and Hampshire being dropped sporadically in the team would not have done his form any favours.

A run of games, particularly against two sides closer to the bottom of Super League in the short term, could be just the confidence injection he needs if he is to be a regular in the side with the injured Field.

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The ideal candidate

Bevan French is, many people would argue, Wigan’s second best full-back after Field. Yes, he has spent time on the wing and has now found a home at stand-off alongside Harry Smith in the halves, but the Frenchman has also had plenty of success at full-back.

So the logical move would be to just put him back in there and hope he gets back into the role, surely? Well, Wigan could do that, but then they would have to find a partner for Smith in the halves.

They have options. Adam Keighran could play six when he returns from suspension, or Peet could decide this is the time to blood young defender Jack Farrimond. Again, with no disrespect to Wigan’s future opponents, it would be an easy introduction to life as a Super League player compared to some of the more menacing fixtures further down the line.

He could also deploy Kruise Leeming at half-back as a makeshift option: something he has done for Leeds in the past.

French is the best full-back Wigan have available at the moment – but that’s how much Peet wants to reshuffle his attacking spine.

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Left field option

Although he has progressed into Wigan’s first team as a centre, Zach Eckersley has experience playing full-back in Wigan’s academy during his formative years.

It would be a gamble putting a player with just five senior caps to his name at full-back. But Eckersley has shown he has immense talent and, with Keighran back from a two-game suspension, could be an option in the coming weeks with Field injured.

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