Wildcats v Wolves: Teams
High-flying Warrington Wolves will be confident of maintaining their hunt for top spot when they travel to Wakefield Wildcats on Sunday.
Last Updated: 18/05/12 5:47pm
High-flying Warrington Wolves will be confident of maintaining their hunt for top spot when they travel to Wakefield Wildcats on Sunday.
The Wolves have been in blistering form this season and secured a place in the semi-finals of the Carnegie Challenge Cup last weekend by winning at the Catalan Dragons.
Tony Smith's side secured a 22-6 success in last season's corresponding fixture having edged out Richard Agar's troops 32-30 on home soil in March.
Wakefield are without prop Matt James because of suspension but they are boosted by the return from injury of second row pair Ali Lauitiiti and Steve Southern, who have been out since Good Friday, and front rower Paul Johnson.
Hooker Andy Ellis drops out after joining Featherstone Rovers on loan.
Undecided
"Ali Lauitiiti and Steve Southern are back in the 19-man squad but we have not decided on our team yet. I will tell the lads our team on our last team run on Saturday," said Agar.
"Ali and Steve trained with us for the last two weeks and have come through with flying colours. Ali is a player we have missed enormously and I think he is a major influence on our side when he is on the field.
"He may be a quiet guy but he has shown a lot of leadership qualities for us this year and we are looking forward to getting him back on the pitch.
Warrington are still without skipper Adrian Morley but utility back Stefan Ratchford is poised to make his comeback from a two-month lay-off with a shoulder injury.
Omitted
Winger Joel Monaghan and centre Chris Bridge are left out and replaced by Matty Blythe and Rhys Williams.
Wolves boss Smith is delighted to have utility man Simon Grix back and available for selection.
"You would be hard pressed to find many players in Super League that play as many roles as Simon does, as well as he does," said Smith.
"There is no doubt that he is one of the most versatile players in the competition and we are grateful to have him. He has many attributes that help him play those multiple roles to the standard he does.
"Yes, you need to have intelligence to understand and recognise the differing requirements of each role, but he is very versatile in his skill set too."
Wakefield: Mathers, Fox, Collis, Mellars, Cockayne, John, Wood, Raleigh, Lauitiiti, Southern, Washbrook, Aiton, Amor, Johnson, Kirmond, Mariano, Smith, Trout, Sykes.
Warrington: Atkins, Blythe, Briers, Carvell, Cooper, Currie, Grix, Harrison, Higham, Hill, Hodgson, McCarthy, O'Brien, Ratchford, Riley, Waterhouse, Westwood, Williams, Wood.