Quins aim to tame Wildcats

Quins RL will face a patched up Wakefield Trinity Wildcats at The Stoop tomorrow.

The Wildcats who narrowly avoided the drop last season by virtue of a last round relegation deciding win over bitter local rivals Castleford Tigers have been one of the surprise packages of the 2007 Super League Season. Coach John Kear who was brought in late last season with a mandate to save the club from relegation has remoulded the playing staff over the off-season, with a move away from the journeymen antipodeans that dominated Wakefield sides in recent seasons bringing in more British players.

The Wildcats who won four of their opening five Super League games have suffered defeats from Bradford and Huddersfield in their last two league outings as injury problems start to bite. Former St Helens prop Ricky Bibey is set to make his debut for the club replacing another former Wigan player, Danny Sculthorpe , whilst youngster Dale Ferguson will make his Super League debut in place of Jason Golden.

Despite their injury problems the visitors still pose a major threat to the Quins defence, the creative centre of the team is undoubtedly England international standoff Jamie Rooney who has impressed many with his form this season. Elsewhere on the pitch Australian Ben Jeffries is an effective presence at scrumhalf, Kiwi hooker Tevita Latu and young England loose forward Brett Ferres offer pace and guile in the forwards, whilst former Castleford winger Waine Pryce offers genuine speed out wide.

A Quins win will equal their best run of league results for two years, following maximum points over the Easter weekend. The main changes to the squad are Chris Melling who drops out due to a knee injury and is replaced by Matt Gafa, whilst Jon Grayshon remains sidelined by a hamstring problem but Henry Paul should shake off concussion to play.

The game kicks off at 6.00 p.m. will be preceded by a curtain raiser game between RLC Premier champions South London Storm and arch-rivals West London Sharks at 3.45 p.m.