Farrell previews Salford
- Wigan Warriors captain Liam Farrell spoke to the press ahead of Wigan Warriors’ Betfred Super League Round 5 clash against Salford Red Devils.
- Farrell: “Every time we’ve been to Salford over the past few years it’s been an intense game, a fast game and we’re expecting nothing less this week.”
- Salford Red Devils v Wigan Warriors, Thursday 14 March, 8pm K.O.
Liam Farrell has previewed Thursday’s trip to Salford Red Devils as the Cherry and Whites look to continue their fantastic start to the 2024 season.
The Cherry and Whites will be looking to continue their impressive form in the 2024 season so far, on the back of a 60-22 victory away to London Broncos. Head coach Matt Peet fielded a side mixed with youth and experience, including 18-year-old Jack Farrimond who made his senior debut.
Farrell spoke of his pride for the young players who played their part in Saturday’s victory: “We’re very proud and it was good to see them stand out as well. Obviously, Jack Farrimond has got big wraps at the moment and in years to come he’s going to really stand out for us.
“Zach (Eckersley) on the wing for us as well, I think he showed his abilities when he ran the whole length of the field and really impressed a lot of people with his pace.”
“We continuously produce young lads who are talented”, he added. “A lot of them stay on here and some move on to other clubs, but Wigan just seems to have a really good knack of producing young lads who are very talented at rugby and hopefully it continues for a long time.
“I think it comes back to the lads who are doing it and the town itself. There’s a lot of rugby league in the town, a lot of clubs – you’ve got your St. Pat’s, your St. Jude’s and lads just want to play rugby league. They’re desperate to make their debut for Wigan and we’ve got a lot of lads who have done it.”
Next up for the Warriors is a trip to the Salford Community Stadium, where they will face Salford Red Devils. Paul Rowley’s side have made an impression on Super League this season, claiming three victories on the bounce – most recently St Helens.
“It amazed me when you heard people saying how Salford were going to be near the bottom of the league and struggling – it’s one team I never thought would be struggling this year, they’ve got too many talented players”, said Farrell. “They’ve signed some talented players as well, so I knew they’d always be a threat and they’ve caused some people some trouble.
“We’ve seen what happened at the weekend against St Helens and we’re under no illusions that it’s going to be a very very tough game. They’re a team who likes to throw the ball about and challenge you, some will challenge you physically and they definitely move the ball tactically.”
Farrell and his Wigan teammates will face a few familiar faces on Thursday night, with former Warriors Joe Shorrocks and Amir Bourouh named in the Red Devils’ 20-man squad. Cade Cust will miss out through concussion protocols, as well as Brad Singleton and Chris Hankinson who are sidelined with knocks.
“It will be good to see them”, said Farrell. “Obviously they’re players who have played a big part in this club’s history and moved onto a different club.
“We’re very aware of all the players they’ve got, especially their outside backs – they’re causing a lot of trouble to teams at the moment, and on the back of Marc Sneyd’s kicking game they’re a hard team to handle. Some of the old Wigan boys will definitely be looking to get a result over us.”
Farrell added the Warriors expect their opposition to push them all the way to the final whistle, naming Shorrocks as a player to watch out for: “They’re gritty as well and they hang in games. They’ve got players who can go the full 80 minutes and Joe Shorrocks is one of those, he was a player here who liked to be gritty for us and did all the small things well.
“We’re expecting a full 80 minute performance from them. Every time we’ve been to Salford over the past few years it’s been an intense game, a fast game and we’re expecting nothing less this week.”
Going into Round 5, the Cherry and Whites sit top of the table with a game in hand on their surrounding opponents. Despite being in a strong position, Farrell insists they won’t be getting complacent: “We have to be very wary not to get ahead of ourselves. We understand that we’ve played two teams that are probably at the bottom end of the league at the moment and we’ve got some more challenging games to come, starting this weekend against Salford”, said Farrell.
“It’s a very good place to be, but we’re also aware that it’s a long season and there’s some tough teams ahead of us.”
Farrell also added that a willingness to always improve has been key in the Warriors success under Matt Peet: “I think we’re in a position at the moment where we’ve won a few trophies and you can start to believe your own hype, but we don’t want to do that. Matt (Peet) from the word go when he came in wanted us to constantly try and improve, try and get better and I think everyone’s bought into that concept.
“We always try to get better week in, week out and that’s not going to change this year. I truly believe in some areas of our game we’re probably not up to scratch, especially defensively – we’re leaking too many points at the moment, so there’s definitely areas in our game where we can learn a lot more.”
See full match previews on Wigan TV HERE.
Liam Farrell is sponsored by TIEVA
By Harvey Orgill.
