Wigan have announced a partnership with Kingstone Press Championship club Workington Town, who this week appointed former Warriors assistant Phil Veivers as their new head coach.
Phil Veivers recently presented at a State of Mind conference about the pressures of playing and coaching at the highest level (Second left on back row) and wish Phil all the very best for the next chapter of his career
The Cumbrian club will have access to Wigan’s fringe players under the dual-registration scheme as well as benefiting from the First Utility Super League champions’ training philosophies, strength and conditioning and community projects.
Wigan rugby manager Kris Radlinski said: “We are pleased to formalise this agreement with Workington Town, which will develop throughout the season to the huge benefit of both parties.
“We currently have three of our young players in Lewis Tierney, Jack Murphy and Rob Lever playing for Workington on one-month loan deals and the feedback we have had from all of them has been fantastic.
“We see opportunities for other players this season to head up there to gain first-team match experience.
“Workington are a progressive club with big ambitions and the recent appointment of Phil Veivers as head coach also strengthens the relationship we will have with them.”
Meanwhile, Wigan coach Shaun Wane will recall England winger Josh Charnley for the trip to Castleford Tigers on Sunday after being left out in favour of 20-year-old Dom Manfredi for last Sunday’s win over Wakefield Trinity Wildcats.
“Josh has buckled down and has been very motivated this week and he will get his chance again this week to impress me,” Wane said.
“Dom will be a great player for us but he is still a baby and he has things to learn on the technical side of being a winger. It is a learning curve for him at the moment, as it is also for Josh.”
Workington Town director Malcolm Allison said “This is great news for the club. Not only will we be able to use some of Wigan’s first-team squad players when coach Phil Veivers requires them, we will also be able to learn a lot about the Super League environment from the champions.
“We have been developing our relationship with Wigan for quite a while now. A lot of hard work has been going on behind the scenes for a number of weeks and this partnership is a direct result of our collective endeavours.
“It was all set in stone when Kris Radlinski and John Winder came up to Derwent Park for a meeting on Tuesday. We are absolutely delighted with the arrangement and hope that, as a club, we can now continue to go from strength-to-strength.”