{"id":349434,"date":"2026-01-03T05:50:21","date_gmt":"2026-01-03T05:50:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/349434\/"},"modified":"2026-01-03T05:50:21","modified_gmt":"2026-01-03T05:50:21","slug":"wigan-warriors-back-outlines-new-focus-for-new-year-as-pre-season-ramps-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/349434\/","title":{"rendered":"Wigan Warriors back outlines new focus for new year as pre-season ramps up"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Wigan\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Wigan Warriors back Zach Eckersley has spoken on the club\u2019s pre-season so far, as well as what\u2019s to come with a change in focus for 2026.<\/p>\n

That change in focus within the context of pre-season training will be around more time on field and 13v13 opposed sessions as the international contingent return, with Eckersley revealing the early focus to be more gym-based.<\/p>\n

The 22-year-old, who made 24 appearances in 2025, has spoken on the Wigan Warriors\u2019 website<\/a>, outlining what pre-season has looked like so far, as well as what is to come.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a good block,\u201d admitted Eckersley with Wigan<\/a> having ended their five weeks of training thus far with a session at Formby Beach.<\/p>\n

They\u2019ll now return to Robin Park ahead of the upcoming block of pre-season, with Eckersley reflecting on what\u2019s already been done.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll the lads have come in training hard and there\u2019s been a different focus this year. We\u2019ve smashed gym and wrestle which have been tough days, but all the lads have taken the benefits from the sessions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wigan Warriors move into next block of pre-season<\/p>\n

After time off over Christmas, Wigan will return with a new focus as those who played in the Ashes and the overseas players who had returned home now arrive back at camp.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone is focused on the next block of pre-season. We\u2019ll have the England [internationals] and Aussie boys back in the New Year, so we\u2019ll be able to work on our 13v13 and the bigger picture. I\u2019m looking forward to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eckersley will look to build on what was his most fruitful season yet, scoring 15 in 24 as he starred at centre and on the wing and despite disappointment at how the year ended, the youngster spoke on the personal successes he had.<\/p>\n

He explained: \u201cWe\u2019re disappointed with how last season finished, but this year is a new one. Personally, there were positives for me as it was the most I\u2019d been involved in a season and the main thing was getting used to playing week in, week out.<\/p>\n

\u201cReceiving the Young Player of the Year award was special, but like everyone I\u2019m looking forward to the year ahead and eager to get going.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for 2026 and his goals, he said: \u201cThe main aim is to strive towards being the best each day and hopefully off the back of that we will hit those targets contributing to a positive season.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wigan will take on North Wales Crusaders in their first pre-season game<\/a> next week before facing off against Hull FC in early February.<\/p>\n

Check out the latest episode of The Serious About Rugby League Show on our YouTube channel here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Wigan Warriors back Zach Eckersley has spoken on the club\u2019s pre-season so far, as well as what\u2019s to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":349435,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[5903,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-349434","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-rugby","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/349434","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=349434"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/349434\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/349435"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=349434"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=349434"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=349434"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}