Exciting young half Leon Hayes is out of Warrington's trip to Las Vegas.
Coach Sam Burgess made the revelation after the Wolves lost another pre-season game on Saturday night, 20-12 to Adrian Lam's Leigh in the Toby King Testimonial pre-season clash at Halliwell Jones Stadium.
Hayes, who has been handed the 7 jersey for the entire season under Super League's squad numbering system, is still fighting his way back from an ankle injury.
“Leon, we’re not going to see until round five," Burgess told media post-match.
"He’s going to be a while as he needs a bit of a break. It’s his hamstring and his ankle – it was such a big injury and there was a lot of trauma in his body.
“His body is recalibrating, if that makes any sense.
“He’s running a tad differently and his body is making those adjustments but he’s in good spirits. He’s had a few niggles in pre-season so we’re going to give him a bit of time to get himself sorted and ready to go.
“It’s a long year coming up and he’ll play plenty.”
Burgess has championed Hayes since the former South Sydney superstar arrived in Warrington and the 20-year-old rewarded him until he suffered a horror fracture dislocation of the ankle against Salford last April.
One man who is - as a result - in line to partner England captain George Williams in Vegas, London Broncos import Oly Leyland, was again a standout performer on Saturday night after winning plenty of praise in an earlier pre-season loss to Widnes.
Since the Broncos were relegated at the end of last season, southerners Oli and Bill Leyland have - in the spirit of their Aussie namesakes - "travelled all over the countryside" to further their careers, with the latter at Hull KR this year.
Burgess used his first-string stars in the first half but indicated the performance might change his selection philosophy against Whitehaven in the Challenge Cup next Saturday.
“I was thinking about playing everyone next week but now, I’m not sure," Burgess said.
“We just had a quick chat about what we might do next week but we’ll see the players in the morning and we’ll make more of an informed decision then."
