Lam previews Hull KR
- Adrian Lam looks ahead to Friday’s Betfred Super League clash with Hull KR.
- Lam: “We can’t wait to go out there and put a strong performance in on Friday night.”
- Wigan Warriors v Hull Kingston Rovers, Fri 18th June, DW Stadium, K.O. 7:45pm.
Adrian Lam hopes his Wigan Warriors side can right the wrongs of their defeat to Catalans when they face Hull KR on Friday evening.
The Cherry and Whites will host the Robins in front of a limited crowd at the DW Stadium. The fixture will be the first since KR visited in March 2020 to feature spectators in the stands.
Speaking to the media in his weekly press conference on Tuesday afternoon, Lam began by discussing the ups and downs of last week’s postponed fixture against Huddersfield Giants due to COVID-19 cases in the Yorkshire side.
“It’s frustrating, because when you have a performance like we did against Catalans, you want to play straight away to move on.
“With the postponement, we took the positives out of it. We got more training under our belt to fix what we feel needed to be fixed.
“It also gave us the opportunity to rest a few players who were struggling with niggling injuries to get fully fit.”
Opponents Hull KR head into the game off the back of a big victory over Salford, downing Richard Marshall’s men 40-4 last weekend at Hull College Craven Park.
On Tony Smith’s side: “They are obviously doing well on the ladder at the moment. They are playing some great rugby and have knocked up couple of big scores in the process.
“They beat us shortly after lockdown last year, so we know what they are capable of, and I feel they’ve got a better squad than last season.”
While the lifting of restrictions has allowed a limited number of fans to return to stadia, Friday will give Wigan fans their first chance to see their side on home soil.
On playing in front of a home crowd: “We’re excited because for the first time in over 12 months we get to play in front of our home crowd.
“There will be over 6,000 fans in. We love them and we’ve missed them, so we can’t wait to go out there and put a strong performance in on Friday night.”
The head coach provided some more info on the condition of Bevan French, who suffered a hamstring injury in Round 7 against Salford Red Devils.
“He’s had surgery now, we are just waiting to hear back from the surgeon to tell us what the timeframe is for his recovery. We should hopefully know by the end of this week.”
Lam also provided some updates on players returning from injury this week.
“Looks like we’ve got a few back into contention. Oliver Gildart [groin] and Liam Marshall [knee] will come into the picture for selection. Willie Isa will come back after missing out on the last two games.”
