BEN Currie has been told his latest knee injury has not wrecked his World Cup hopes – by England coach Wayne Bennett.
The second-rower has been boosted by the news he could still play again this season after suffering the problem against Widnes.
It is Currie’s second knee injury after he missed 10 months with a torn cruciate ligament.
But Wolves coach Tony Smith revealed that Bennett has told Currie he is still in his thoughts as he prepares to narrow down his selection for the Autumn’s tournament to 24 men.
“Ben’s had some encouragement from the England coach that he’s still in the mix,” he admitted.
“If he’s back playing and in good enough form to be selected, then he would be available for the World Cup and would go with our blessing.
“Ben’s confident he can play in the last couple of games of the season and we are too. He gives himself every chance by approaching his rehab in a professional manner.”
Another of Warrington’s World Cup hopefuls, hooker Daryl Clark, is also sweating on the outcome of surgery to repair cartilage damage.
But Smith expects the 24-year-old to also recover in time to make England’s squad, if needed.
He added: “He’s seen a consultant but he’s confident it isn’t a bad one, this is a pretty experienced surgeon.
“He was very hopeful Daryl will be back playing. We’re expecting the better rather than the worst.”
Warrington have business of their own to attend to, making sure they stay in Super League after ending up in the Qualifiers.
A win over Halifax would make it three out of three and as soon as safety is secured, transfer plans for next year can go ahead.
Smith has already brought Kiwi Peta Hiku and Australian Ben Pomeroy into his squad but is expected to make a number of changes for 2018.
However, he admitted the talks over the NRL salary cap for 2018, which may see clubs forced to release players if the figure is lower than expected, is having an effect on the other side of the world.
Smith said: “It’s a tough market, particularly with the NRL salary cap – I don’t just mean about us recruiting Australians, I’m on about Australians recruiting from here.
“The greatest influence on the market is the NRL salary cap and it makes it hard to get high quality players and being able to retain them.
“In some respects, that influences you to sign players for longer. If you’ve got good players, you put them on longer term contracts.
“It might give them some more security in their lives but in other respects sometimes it’s not the best but if you’ve got good players and want to keep hold of them, you’ve got to sign them to longer term deals.
“It’s a very competitive industry now and it’s a difficult one in which to recruit high quality players, that’s why it’s so important to develop players nowadays.”
Warrington in the Qualifiers after winning the League Leaders’ Shield and losing the Grand Final and Challenge Cup Final last year is certainly a shock.
But veteran back-rower Ben Westwood believes it may turn into a positive going into next year, when he still hopes to be part of the club.
However, he told SunSport that nothing is likely to be decided until after the season has finished.
The 36-year-old, who has been at Warrington for 15 years, said: “There’s always little chats between the club but I haven’t been pushing it. I want to get the last five games out of the way, then we’ll see what’s happening.
“I don’t want to earn a contract on the past. I want to show I’m capable of doing a job still, I think I’ve still got a year left in me and hopefully I’ll still be here.
“There’s nothing we can do about it now, we’re in the Qualifiers. All we’ve got to do now is win every game, which we’re capable of, and look forward to next year, where hopefully we’ll be where we should be – top eight, top four maybe even the top two.”
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