Wigan Warriors, St Helens hooker options assessed after Brad O’Neill, Moses Mbye bans

Both Wigan Warriors and St Helens are potentially facing a real crisis in their hooking department ahead of the derby showdown with St Helens on Friday.

Starting hooker Brad O’Neill has been handed a one-match ban by the RFL’s Match Review Panel which will not be appealed, meaning the Warriors are likely to be without all three of their senior hookers this weekend.

Kruise Leeming is definitely out injured, while there is uncertainty over the fitness of youngster Tom Forber too – he has not been involved in a Wigan match-day squad for several weeks.

The situation is perhaps just as bleak when it comes to the Saints. They will appeal Mbye’s ban and with Daryl Clark missing for last weekend’s defeat to Castleford, it means the Saints are also thin on the ground when it comes to genuine hooking options.

Here are some possible alternatives for both teams to consider.

Moving a utility player into hooker

Both teams do have players who could potentially slot in at hooker if they are short. For Wigan, the obvious bet would be for Ryan Hampshire to come back into their 17 in some form, whether that is at hooker or elsewhere, freeing another spine player up to go in at nine.

You would suspect Peet would be hesitant to shuffle his spine too much though, so if Hampshire does come in, hooker would be the likely bet. Wigan also have Adam Keighran, who has experience of playing hooker early in his playing career, as another last-ditch option.

For Saints, their best pick would likely be someone like James Bell, who has already shown on a number of occasions he is capable of slotting in a variety of positions and performing. With Morgan Knowles potentially returning this week too, it would enable Bell to take up a new role.

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A young debutant

This, in truth, feels like the way both clubs may end up going on Friday night if they need to given their commitment to utilising their pathway and junior systems.

Wigan’s next hooker off the ranks would likely be youngster Tom Ratchford, who has been a mainstay for the club’s reserves side this year and has plenty of experience in academy rugby. Naturally though, a debut in a derby would be a significant step up.

St Helens also have a young hooker in reserve: Jake Burns. He made his senior debut for Wellens’ side in last Friday’s defeat to Castleford and could well feature again this week.

He has a remarkable story, only being brought into the club two years ago after playing open age rugby with Halton Farnworth Hornets. Since then, he’s played reserve grade rugby for the Saints and appeared on dual-reg and loan deals in the lower leagues.

But he, like Ratchford, could be afforded a chance to shine in the biggest game of them all this week.

The transfer market?

As mentioned, both teams have a huge commitment to giving players in their junior systems game-time when possible – so this is very much the least likely option.

But there are players on the market who could be secured on short-term loan deals: albeit not exactly out-and-out hookers.

Whether the Saints or the Warriors would be inclined to borrow someone for two weeks remains to be seen.

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