Wigan Warriors will be in action for the first time in 2026 when they take on North Wales Crusaders on January 10.
For North Wales, the game will act as a final outing before the Championship season gets underway and Dean Muir will be hoping to see plenty of progress made. It comes a month before Wigan are due to play their first competitive game of the year, though, and Matt Peet will be expected to take a number of youngsters to the Eirias Stadium.
The Warriors have high hopes for a number of young players on the peripheries of Peet’s squad and as the 2026 Super League season approaches several will have ambitions of being able to breakthrough and establish themselves within the senior ranks.
With that in mind, here’s a look at five of the youngsters striving to make that next step with Wigan Warriors.
Taylor Kerr
The loose-forward has been on the verge of the Warriors’ first-team scene for a couple of years now, having featured in pre-season for the Cherry and Whites over the last two years.
However, he is still waiting to make his competitive debut for the club, having spent the last few seasons learning from the likes of Sean O’Loughlin and Kaide Ellis.
Kerr has spent time away from the Brick Community Stadium, though, and last season he made seven outings while on loan at London Broncos. He scored a try for the Broncos, too, in a win over Featherstone Rovers. The 19-year-old also made one appearance for Salford Red Devils last season.
Dayon Sambou
Sambou made the controversial move to Wigan from rivals St Helens over the off-season, alongside Jonny Vaughan, and he’ll be keen to take the next step in his career at the Brick Community Stadium.
The outside back emerged through the Saints academy to make his first-team debut last season, and he made six appearances in the Red V. However, his last appearance under Paul Wellens came in April, with Sambou spending the final few months of the season on loan at Halifax Panthers.
He has plenty of competition for places at Wigan, but he’ll be keen to show Peet that he is worthy of stepping up should the opportunity arise.
Kian McDermott
Another to spend chunks of last season on loan at London, the prop made nine appearances in the capital during what was a difficult season for the Broncos. Given McDermott won’t turn 20 until February, the experience with London will have been invaluable and he’ll be keen to use that to his advantage heading into 2026.
McDermott is the only player on this list to have featured for the Warriors in Super League, too. He made a competitive bow in the win over Salford last season before coming off the bench in round 24 against Catalans Dragons.
Lukas Mason
The son of ex-St Helens and Huddersfield Giants man Keith Mason, Lukas has just turned 20 and he’ll be pushing to force his way into Peet’s pack plans this year. He made 10 outings in the colours of London Broncos last season which will have been good experience for him, while he also had one game for Oldham in a 10-10 draw with Widnes Vikings.
He has Liam Farrell, Junior Nsemba and Sam Walters ahead of him in the back-row pecking order, so opportunities won’t be easy to come by, but he’ll be fighting to establish himself as the next cab off the rank ahead of Tiaki Chan and George Hirst.
Noah Hodkinson
Hodkinson impressed against Leeds Rhinos in Ash Handley’s testimonial last January, but so far his only competitive senior experience has come during a brief loan spell with Widnes Vikings where he made two appearances.
The full-back spent the remainder of the season with Wigan Warriors’ reserves but having turned 20 in November, he’ll have ambitions of being able to kick on and become a first-teamer. With Jai Field, Bevan French and Zach Eckersley in the senior group, opportunities won’t come easy, but he’ll be doing his best to catch the eye and he might get a run out at North Wales.
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