JACK Hughes has explained how his role in the Wire team will be different under Steve Price this year.

In last week’s 16-12 defeat to Leeds Rhinos at The Halliwell Jones Stadium, Hughes appeared to be in rotation between his familiar right-edge second row role and a position tighter to the ruck, swapping regularly with starting loose forward Ben Murdoch-Masila.

That was interrupted by a spell in the centres when Bryson Goodwin went off to have a cut to his head examined.

Hughes says a more central role in the Wire pack is something supporters can expect more of in 2018 but he says he is still adjusting to its demands.

“I’m happy with things, but I know I need to change my game a little bit for playing in the middle,” he told the Guardian.

“It will need different things to playing on the edge, but it’s a challenge I’m looking forward to taking on and having a good go at.

“I have to find my feet in defence. I’m used to playing right back row where I know I’m stood in that defensive line.

“In the middle, there’s a lot of moving around the ruck so that’s something I have to get used to.

“You have to defend on both sides of the pitch as well and pair up with the other middles a bit more going forward.

“It’s just little things like that and I have to bring those things into my game now.

“Whether I play on the edge or in the middle, it doesn’t matter to me.

“I’ll always give my best and do what’s best for the team to achieve the long-term goal.”

When Murdoch-Masila arrived from Salford, many expected him to take Hughes’ place on The Wire’s right edge, a position in which he terrorised defences for the Red Devils.

However, Hughes continued the role he has made his own since joining Warrington in 2016 and he says the threat of his place being taken “keeps him at his best.”

The 26-year-old also linked up with Tyrone Roberts against Leeds as the right edge looked more threatening as the game went on.

Hughes says it could take “up to a month” for things to click properly on that side of the field but he is confident The Wire will put in an improved performance at Huddersfield Giants tonight, Thursday, a club he spent a year on loan at in 2015.

“Ben Murdoch-Masila coming in creates a lot more competition in that back row, which all winning teams have. It keeps you at your best every week,” he said.

“We’re still confident, we just know we’re not far off.

“There’s a couple of things we need to fix up, more in attack because we were happy with our defence.

“We scrambled well at times and we worked hard for each other, which is what we’re all about this year.

“Nobody had played with Tyrone Roberts before. It could take up to a month for that side to gel.

“You can obviously see why he was a star in the NRL. He could pick a pass and fire a pass as well.

“I don’t think he was as sharp as he usually is as he’s been struggling with his knee.

“I’m looking forward to this next month, building combinations with him and after that, we’ll be firing on all cylinders.

“We’ve worked on fixing things up this week and now we’re ready to put it in place at Huddersfield.”