Back at Wigan next week.

Peet saying we arent going to rush him into action and give him a preseason which I think is wise given what happened last year.

Will be nice to inject a fully fit Bevan French into the team a month or so into the season.

Hopefully in the meantime Field can gain confidence and play his way into the team. I’d love if Field was playing so well French returned on the wing to ease him back in.

Hopefully we can fit them both into the team, those two plus Marshall is some serious pace in the backs

He will be a very welcome addition as and when the time is right. As you say, let’s hope Field is ripping it up and that will mean there’s absolutely no rush to get French back in. You’d think they’ll want to get a month or more of work in to him, so it could get towards late March or in to April before we see him. A player of that class will be some boost for us when he is back.

Hopefully all going well. Fit french to FB. A confident Fields in the halves. The speed in that combo would be frightening

The options when he’s back fit and up to speed are superb. We could keep Field at fullback and play French on the wing, move Field to the halves and put French back in at fullback. We could use either to add impact from the bench. There is always the option to play Cust at hooker as well and that would add a bit more pace and a running threat at dummy half.

Sounds like great news, and again, more options.

Great news but I don’t like the idea of French on the wing “to ease” him back in.

He’s either fit enough to play or he’s not
He’s either ready to play or he’s not

Wingers can get balls put up high, cross field kicks, grubbers in the in goal area all game just like fullbacks. We also demand a lot from our wingers in our in 20.

Also, whilst French is fast, it’s more his agility / step that allows him to create space and bamboozle defences. That isn’t possible as much outwide and more often than not at Wigan it’s about being able to finish in tight angles.

We would have to change the way we play undoubtedly if we were to accommodate French on the wing. It is possible though.

We have centre options who can do the hard yards like Thornley, Bibby and KPP so you would have to pair him with one of those lads in the centre and they would have to take on the responsibility of the early carries. Absolutely no way we should be chucking French in for that role.

KPP as centre with French as his winger could be a very interesting prospect for opposition defences to defend against.

There are three reserves fixtures between the end of Feb and 19th March, so they may well ease French back in via a couple of those. They’d also have the option of him turning out for Newcastle if both clubs wanted to do that.

Cust and Fields in the halves, Tommy on the bench to interchange with the mediocre Powell, Don't think Smith is Wigan standard, If he has not put his mark on the team by the age of 22 then I doubt he will, nothing more than a Rocky mk2, bulled up by the usual suspects

French is a fullback and nothing else for me. The most likely move will be Field playing 6 to accommodate him when he returns.

I like this theory.

1. French
6. Cust (Field)
7. Field (Cust)

Fully fit the above excites me more than Tommy in the halves, absolutely rapid.

Agreed.

If he’s fit he plays fullback and nowhere else.

I can't make my mind up.

On the one hand, I'm desperate for immediate success and want 22 to be a great season. That's a great offering, with plenty of options in attack.

On the other there's two players listed that probably won't be here in 23. That's normally ok, just not when it comes to the spine. Add to that the talk of Powell being on a 12 month deal & the fact we don't have a settled 13 and it's slightly worrying long term imo.

I'd hope that after spending almost as much of his contract not playing for Wigan as he has playing, French will extend for 2023.

What do you mean extend for 2023?

2022 was the additional option year in his contract which he extended. In order to be here in 2023 he will need a completely new contract.

That's what is being suggested. The club have been brilliant to French and because he missed out on the majority of last season due to injury, you'd like to think French would want to stay for another year to repay the club, by signing a new contract.

Glad to see him coming back and as previous posters have said, we need to take time in bringing him back. A few games at Newcastle won’t do any harm.

There’s not half gonna be a selection headache when he is back though (provided Field is going well). A horrible but superb problem to have.

After seeing field in pre-season, there's no rush to get him back at the moment. If Jai continues with his form I can't see how he will be dropped, 40-1 currently for MOS not a bad punt for £5

He's played some very good games for us on the wing to be fair, including his debut.

And most of his NRL career has been as a winger. I can understand people who write him off as a halfback because he’s never really played there but I don’t understand the downer on him as a winger.

I’d probably be more inclined to go French at fullback and Field in the halves but I’m also intrigued to see how a centre/wing pairing of KPP and French would go. If KPP could get French away in to the sort of space he did for Thornley at Wire on a pretty regular basis, it could well be a game breaker for us. Any centre in space with French on his outside and Field on his inside is unbelievably exciting.