Predicted Warrington Wolves team vs Bradford Bulls

It is certainly a nice problem to have for head coach Sam Burgess, who looks set to have Josh Thewlis, James Bentley, Kelepi Tanginoa and Jordy Crowther available again for The Wire’s first trip to Odsal for 12 years.

And with a gruelling run of three games in 10 days coming up, will the promised squad rotation start now?

Here’s a look at the selection decisions facing the Wire boss before a prediction of how the 17 to face the Bulls may look…

Full-back or wing for Thewlis?

The two main bits of news from Burgess pre-match saw him divulge that Josh Thewlis was likely to play, and that Cai Taylor-Wray would not.

Even though Taylor-Wray made his comeback from injury off the bench at Castleford Tigers last week, Burgess said he does not feel he is ready for 80 minutes of Super League just yet and as such, he will feature for the reserves at Wigan Warriors on Sunday.

However, that is offset by the news that Thewlis is set to make his comeback from hernia surgery and feature for the first time since the victory over Catalans Dragons at the end of June.

So it could be that Thewlis simply slots back into the full-back role he was holding down in Taylor-Wray’s absence, but Burgess appeared to intimate that they will continue to put faith in Lachlan Webster to deputise.

That looks likely to mean that Thewlis goes onto the right wing, which would mean one of Albert Hopoate or Josh Smith dropping out.

Burgess was vocal in his disappointment with the right-edge defence at Castleford and Smith was the one hooked to give Taylor-Wray some minutes, so could he be favourite to step aside with Hopoate moving into the centres?

Josh Thewlis is back in contention (Image: Olly Hassell/SWpix.com)

Do some players need a breather?

While he has been outstanding on the whole this season, there have been a few signs of late that playing as much first-team rugby as he has done is catching up with Australian centre Smith.

And he’s not alone either – there’s plenty of players who have played a lot of rugby league and given the schedule coming up, Burgess could be minded to give some of them a breather.

Luke Thomas in particular could be a player to benefit given this is his first prolonged spell of first-team action, and the returns of Bentley and Tanginoa to contention gives Burgess scope to shuffle his middle unit around.

One of the aforementioned could come into the starting back row to allow for James Harrison to either start in the middle or on the bench, which allows for the possibility of either Thomas, Liam Byrne or Ben Currie to be given a rest.

There is also the option of bringing Jordy Crowther back in, but it would appear to be a straight choice between him and Sam Powell for a spot on the bench.

Could Luke Thomas be given a rest following his longest ever run of first-team action? (Image: Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com)

A start for Sipley?

This would seem unlikely, but there is an argument to be put forward for Toff Sipley to be given a starting role.

It is something he has done only once since arriving – in the Challenge Cup semi-final defeat to Hull KR – but given how he has helped turn the momentum of the game in Wire’s favour in the last two games, there is justification behind asking him to set the tone from the off.

However, Sipley and Joe Philbin seem to have found something of a groove in recent weeks and an interchange partnership that looked promising in the season’s early weeks is heating up again. Disrupting that would appear unlikely.

Toff Sipley has two tries and an assist in his last three appearances as well as averaging 119 metres with the ball (Image: Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com)

Warrington Wolves predicted team vs Bradford Bulls

Lachlan Webster; Josh Thewlis, Albert Hopoate, Toby King, Matty Ashton; Ewan Irwin, Leon Hayes; James Harrison, Danny Walker, Liam Byrne, Adam Holroyd, James Bentley, Ben Currie. Subs: Toff Sipley, Joe Philbin, Kelepi Tanginoa, Sam Powell