WARRINGTON Wolves have entered the new season with a squad averaging just over the age of 24, but Jack Hughes is confident his new club have the talent and experience at their disposal to mount a charge for silverware.

The 24-year-old arrived from Wigan Warriors in the off-season having spent last year on loan at Huddersfield Giants.

It makes the second row one of 20 full-time players in the squad under the age of 25, several of whom the Billinge-born Hughes has played with at representative level.

Dismissing talk of a transition period for Wolves, the former England age-group international believes Tony Smith’s squad have the right blend to fight for Super League and Challenge Cup success.

“I think it’s hard to get that balance sometimes,” explained Hughes.

“Some teams give themselves a couple of years and say ‘this team is going to be successful in so many years, we need a bit of time’, but we want to get it right now and do something special this year.

“You look at the squad on paper and it’s definitely a squad that can do it. We’ve got depth here in every position and everyone is fighting for their place.

“You’re not guaranteed, there’s depth in every spot so you’ve got to be at your best every week and that’s only going to help us go far this year.”

He may have only arrived at the club a few months ago, but Hughes says Wolves is already beginning to feel like home.

“There have been a few new faces this year and a few boys left, but to me it doesn’t feel like it’s gone that way,” he said.

“It feels like these boys have been together for ages and that’s just what you want. Camp (in Tenerife) only helped that.”

A year above Ben Currie at Golborne High School, Hughes was part of the England Academy side that defeated Australian Schoolboys in 2010 – for the first time in six years – alongside Matty Russell, Rhys and Ben Evans and James Laithwaite.

“They were good times,” added Hughes, who was also part of the European Cup-winning England Knights squad that included Daryl Clark.

“We were in camp together and they’re good memories – we beat them twice.

“I’ve known those boys since then and they’re all good lads, so I was looking forward to coming back and joining up with them.

“I played with Daryl before too, so I wasn’t coming into a team that was new. I knew quite a few faces and that helped me out.

“I played for the same amateur team as Ben Currie and we were at the same school, so I’ve known Ben a while. My brother used to play in his age group as well at Golborne Parkside.”

The former Wigan St Judes junior hopes to build on that relationship with Currie, whose reward for finishing as Wolves’ top try scorer last season was a call up to England’s Autumn International Series squad, and give Warrington a threat on both edges.

“If we keep playing well we can get a partnership going there,” said Hughes. “We can try to do something special with this team.

“I’m trying to bring a bit of variety on the edge. Obviously you’ve got it on that left edge with Ben Currie, so I’m trying to bring a bit of something on the other edge.

“He had a great season last year and was rewarded with getting in that England squad.

“What he did last year was special and I expect big things from him again this year.”

Hughes says his own impressive loan spell at the John Smith’s Stadium last season has helped aid his development.

“I thought it did me some good,” he added. “I played every week, which I wasn’t doing, and that was the reason I wanted to get out and go on loan to a club like Huddersfield.

“It was somewhere I could get some game time and get some consistency in my game. I got exactly what I wanted to get out of it and it was a great move for me.”