Ben Currie insists Warrington can cope with the loss of star Blake Austin
BEN CURRIE insists Warrington can cope without Blake Austin and they have prepared for him not making the Challenge Cup final.
The Aussie-born half-back star, who is in line for England and Great Britain selection as he qualifies through his grandmother, is set to watch from the Wembley stands because of an ankle injury.
Matty Smith, who was brought in to cover his absence, is ineligible as he has appeared for Catalans Dragons in the competition, meaning Wolves boss Steve Price looks set to chuck in a non-specialist stand-off against St Helens tomorrow.
England back-rower Currie is one of the candidates to play at number six, along with Harvey Livett, Jack Hughes and Stefan Ratchford.
But he is confident that whoever fills in can do the job as Warrington revel in the underdogs tag.
He said: “It’s a shame Blake’s not involved this week. We tried to wait for him and expected to play but we’ve trained really well and we’ve got our gameplan and we know what we’re doing.
“He’s a big loss as he’s played well all season but these things happen. I missed last year through injury, it’s not a nice feeling to be watching from the sideline.
“But if a Challenge Cup final at Wembley doesn’t get you up for the game, nothing will and we’ve a strong enough team to go out and do a job.
“Blake’s not been fit for four weeks, so we’ve trained without him to plan for that scenario. Matty stepped in but we knew he couldn’t play in this game.
“We had our plan and we’ve stuck to it. We’re happy enough with what we’ve got going into the game.
“I don’t think we’ve gone into a final for the last five or six years as underdogs but we’re looking forward to that tag. A lot of people have written us off but we like that, we have belief in our squad.”
Price has insisted all week that all the pressure is on St Helens, who sit 16 points clear at the top of Super League.
But he is confident whoever replaces Austin can do the job and he is not worried about the prospect of coping without him.
The Warrington chief said: “On Tuesday Blake just wasn’t right. It is what it is now but whoever I put out I’m comfortable with.
“The player who wears that number six will do it with a huge amount of pride.
“I’ve seen a number of teams in finals play with different combinations and win, though, it doesn’t worry me one bit.”
