JACK Hughes will remain as Warrington Wolves captain for the 2022 season – but he may miss the start of it.
New head coach Daryl Powell has confirmed to the Guardian that he does not intend to change the team’s leadership for his first year in charge, meaning second rower Hughes keeps the captaincy for the second campaign running.
He took over sole on-field leadership last year having shared the role with Chris Hill for the previous two seasons, and Powell is confident he will turn into “an outstanding captain” for the club.
Powell also revealed Hughes had undergone surgery on a wrist problem and appeared to rule him out of contention for both pre-season friendlies – against Wigan Warriors on January 29 and Salford Red Devils on February 4.
However, he is “hopeful” his captain will be fit to face Leeds Rhinos in their season opener on February 12.
“I’m confident Jack Hughes will be an outstanding captain for us and I’ll work with him to make sure he develops into that,” he said.
“He’ll get a lot of support from senior players around him, so I’m comfortable with that decision.
“I don’t see any need to change it – we’ve got some great leaders within the group who do their job.
“It is similar to when I went into Castleford – Michael Shenton was the captain and a new-ish captain at that and he developed into an outstanding captain.
“Jack’s had a wrist injury that he had operated on. He’s had the cast off and he’s just getting into training so hopefully, he’ll be ready for Round One or Two.”
Powell also confirmed that prop Joe Philbin is back in full training having undergone an operation to remove his appendix.
New signings Greg Minikin and James Harrison are long-term absentees and will not return from ACL injuries until mid-season, but head coach Powell says the group is in a healthy position.
“We’re in a good place – the young players have been training great as have the senior guys, so it’s been a positive pre-season so far,” he said.
“Obviously the long-term guys like James Harrison and Greg Minikin are still going through their rehab but we’re getting back towards a full complement now.”
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