Warrington youngster to return from nine-month injury lay-off this weekend

Warrington centre Connor Wrench will play his first game of rugby league in 274 days on Saturday as he makes his injury comeback with the reserves.

The 21-year-old hasn’t played since suffering an ACL injury in their 32-18 defeat to Toulouse last August.

Wrench underwent surgery on the injury and has been on the road to recovery for the last nine months.

Warrington coach Daryl Powell has confirmed that Wrench will make his return on Saturday with the club’s reserves.

“He needs to play before he comes in to Super League so he’ll play in reserves,” Powell told Love Rugby League when asked about Connor Wrench.

“And then everything we do will be on the back of how he comes out of that.

“He has done everything now, he has done all his recovery and ready to play protocols. We’ll get a look at him in reserves, he’ll play 40 minutes there and then we’ll talk it from there.”

Wrench will mark his return when Warrington host London Broncos in a reserves match at Victoria Park on Saturday, 1pm kick-off, live on Wire TV.

Connor Wrench nearing full return as Daryl Powell welcomes healthy selection headache

On to first team matters now, and Warrington host Hull KR in a mouth-watering Super League clash on Friday night.

Powell admits he has got a big call to make in regards to the full-back role, with Josh Thewlis enjoying a stellar performance in last week’s win over Wakefield, with regular starter Matt Dufty coming off the bench.

“I’ve got call to make there,” Powell said. “Obviously I know what I’m going to do but I’m not going to tell you!

“Dufts been class for us for most of the season. There’s a couple of bits that I want him to work on and I think it is healthy if every position in the team gets challenged by other players. That drives performance and standards, I’ve no doubt Dufts is going to be outstanding when he comes back in.

“That’ll be down in some way to what’s happened to him, that’s what happens in a rugby league player’s career. You don’t always play well, sometimes you get dropped out of the team but it’s how you respond and Josh Thewlis was very, very good.”

Powell confirmed that Wales international Gil Dudson five-match suspension against his former club Catalans Dragons in the Challenge Cup sixth round next week.

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