Southern and Wilkes miss France trip

Steve Southern and Oliver Wilkes have missed out on Wakefield’s trip to France to face Catalan at the weekend.

Southern, who was recently named the Wildcats captain for this season, has stayed at home to be with his heavily pregnant wife, but will lead the members of the squad who have stayed behind in training.

Wilkes, meanwhile, misses the trip as he recovers from having his appendix removed last week.

Coach Richard Agar is hopeful that the trip to France will act as a bonding session for his squad, which includes a large number of new faces, while both he and assistant James Webster are also new to the club.

The Wildcats face Catalan in Jerome Guisset‘s testimonial on Saturday, but will enjoy training and team activities in the build up to the weekend.