DO not be surprised to see Jack Hughes playing down the middle again this year.

Last season he often started in his accustomed right second-row position and then relieve one of the props or loose forward around the ruck area midway through the first half.

His ability to seamlessly convert from one role to the other made tactical sense for a side that he was co-captaining for the first time and he was happy to lead the way in doing what was necessary for the team.

“Doing that saves us a substitution down the middle and gives us a bit of a head start on subs sometimes,” he explained.

“We ended up having quite a few subs left to call on at the end of a game with me being able to drop in the middle to save on subs.

“It works for us for a number of different reasons.

“The coaching staff like the fact I can go in there and ball-play a little bit and move the ball about through the middle and be that link between the two halves, which is a side of the game I enjoy.”

He added: “So it’s possible we may do the same again.

“We’ve got a few back rowers out there now. We’ve obviously got Murds (Ben Murdoch-Masila) who comes off the bench and causes impact but he showed in the internationals for Tonga at the end of last year that he’s pretty devastating when he can start as well.

“We’ve got a couple of lads knocking on the door for a spot in the back row, so the middle might be a place for me again.

“I’m pretty open to anything and I’m pretty keen to do what’s best for the team and if that’s playing in the middle then so be it.

“It’s not too much different. You can’t find a little breather like you can out wide but I don’t mind that.

“It’s all about working hard, getting stuck in, and I enjoy that.”

His 2019 was eventful in other ways too, the tour selection capping a season in which he stepped up as an emergency stand-off for the Challenge Cup Final against St Helens at Wembley.

That proved to be a successful move as he and fellow co-captain Chris Hill lifted their first trophy together – the first for The Wire since the League Leaders’ Shield in 2016.

Incredibly that came only 21 days after he had ruptured a testicle against Catalans Dragons in a stormy Super League battle at Stade Gilbert Brutus.

The campaign then ended up being a long one for Hughes.

Not only did his season extend into the Great Britain tour Down Under, on which he was mightily proud to gain his first senior cap, but then there was surgery to contend with a few days after his return.

Warrington Guardian:

Hughes in training with Great Britain. Picture by SWPix.com

He had a double hernia repair and ‘a few other things going on in and around the pubic region’ which were still settling down at the start of 2020 and in the week leading into Wolves’ training camp in Portugal.

Upon rejoining the group at the start of the new year with the rest of the club’s international players, it was mostly rehab and rest for Hughes – little time spent on field work.

It means, like the other internationals, he has missed out on the six weeks of conditioning before Christmas and some of the catching up too.

This is new territory for him in terms of getting himself ready for a new term.

“I’ve never really missed much of a pre-season,” he said.

“I’m a guy who doesn’t usually miss many games or many training sessions, but with the length of the tour and then having surgery I do feel like I’ve missed a lot of hard work at this point.

“Speaking to all the lads, they’ve put some yards in, some hard work and a lot of sweat.

“With the way the season is now it feels like it’s getting earlier and earlier every year and those who played internationals at the end of the previous season have not got as much space to get those hard yards in and prepare.

“Maybe the first two to three weeks of the season you’re still catching up, still doing extras at training where the other lads might not need it.

“People like Chris Hill have been doing it every year and they soon get themselves back to match fitness.”

If the 28-year-old is not match fit for round one, he feels he will be available for selection within a few weeks.