Thornley: Good to go

• Iain Thornley spoke to wiganwarriors.com after returning to match action for the first time since June.
• Thornley: “I’m good to go now, I can carry on and play full matches so it was good to get the minutes in and get that box ticked.”
• The Warriors Centre scored on his loan debut at Barrow Raiders.

Iain Thornley said it was ‘good to get the minutes in’ as he made his return to match action following a 10-month injury lay-off.

The Warriors Centre went out on loan to Championship side Barrow Raiders last week, and made his long-awaited return from injury in a 16-12 victory over Halifax Panthers: “I managed to get 60-minutes out, which is what I’ve been recommended by Wigan being my first game in 10-months since doing my ACL but I’m good to go now, I can carry on and play full matches so it was good to get the minutes in and get that box ticked.”

Reflecting on the injury process, he added: “It’s been a long road. It’s one of those injuries where there’s a bit of clock watching at times, waiting for things to heal. It’s just good to be where I am now, back playing.”

On the game, he said: “We [Barrow] only won 16-12, it was 10-10 at half time so it was a good competitive game of rugby. I really rate the Championship and the rugby that they play, I’ve played there myself before and I think the intensity that they play at is great, especially for someone like myself coming back from injury.”

Thornley also made it a try-scoring return as he grabbed a crucial four-point score in the game: “I didn’t really have to do much, the winger kind of did all the work for me – it was literally a case of putting the ball down but they all count whether it’s a meter or ninety-nine, they’re all the same points.”

Finally, he spoke on his aims going forward: “I could only do 60-minutes in this one, so I’ve got that box ticked. My next game I can do 80-minutes, kick-on and get some form, show what I can do and put my hand up for selection for Matty.”