Wigan Warriors head coach praises Ethan Havard’s progress: “He put in an incredible amount of work.”

For the first time this season, Ethan Havard has been included in Wigan’s 21-man roster. Head coach Matt Peet has praised the prop’s efforts during his recuperation.

Within ten minutes of taking the field at Old Trafford during the previous year’s Super League Grand Final, the 23-year-old re-injured his hamstring.

After having surgery on the same hamstring, it was Havard’s first game in three months. However, he hasn’t played since the 10-2 victory over the Catalan Dragons.

Since then, the forward for England has been working hard to recover, according to head coach Peet. After being named in the team’s 21-man roster, he has given himself an opportunity to play for the first time this season against Hull KR.

Wigan, led by Willie Peters, has won five of the eight games they have played in the Super League. They will be visiting Craven Park for Round 9.

Coach Peet said, “We’ve stretched everything out to give Ethan the maximum time through each stage of his rehab.”

“I give him credit for his work; he’s in excellent physical condition and has worked incredibly hard.”

“He’s been outstanding in training and built a great relationship with our strength and conditioning team, who deserve a lot of credit as well.”

In addition to Mike Cooper and Sam Eseh, who just returned from their respective ailments and is now on a short-term loan with the Castleford Tigers, Peet acknowledges that Havard has been granted more time to avoid the same issue from recurring.The Wigan boss continued:

“We’ve been holding Ethan back making sure that he over-delivered on his test results and that everything was the best it could possibly be to give him an opportunity to get back in the team for a sustained run.

“We wanted to get him back fitter than ever.

“In his first game, whether it’s this week or not, I won’t expect too much from him in terms of minutes.

“We’ll get the right game and we’ll look to build him in as well. But he’s a great player for us and we’re all excited to see him out there and see him enjoying his rugby.”