SINCE reuniting in 2017, Chris Hill and Mike Cooper have been the foundations upon which the Warrington Wolves pack has been built.

Players may have come and gone around them, but the pair have remained pretty much a constant in the Wire front row for the past two-and-a-half seasons since Cooper returned to his hometown club from NRL side St George Illawarra.

It was in that very same pre-season that Hill signed a new five-year deal to keep him at The Halliwell Jones Stadium, but things were not so cut and dried for a while.

An opportunity to try his luck elsewhere presented itself to the Wire co-captain and he now admits he may have been more minded to take it if his friend and fellow prop did not come home.

“We’ve been playing together now for a few years since he came back from Australia,” he said.

“It was a big decision for me to stay here and it was around the time he was coming back.

“I knew he was on his way back here and he’s a good mate of mine. We’d kept in contact while he was over there.

“We just click and get on so well, not just on the field and in training but in life as well.

“We’re really close and we’d do anything for each other on the pitch.

“It would have been a much tougher decision for me if Coops wasn’t coming back – it made it a bit easier

“I was really keen to play with him again – I had done a bit before he left and for England as well.

“I’m glad I took the decision to stay.

“There’s times where you have arguments but we just put it to bed.

“Sometimes we’ve both done offloads that haven’t quite worked or made silly errors, we’ve given it to each other then moved on.

“We’re really close as a pack – Daz (Daryl Clark) and Hughesey (Jack Hughes) are really good mates of mine as well.

“It does make playing with each other so much easier.”

Between them, Hill and Cooper have missed only two games this season but face one of the biggest tests of their partnership on Friday.

The Wire face Super League leaders St Helens and the duo will be in direct competition with Saints’ fearsome starting front row of Alex Walmsley and Luke Thompson.