Andy is caught in a war of words
ANDY GREGORY has been caught up in a bizarre tug of war over loyalties ahead of Sunday’s Challenge Cup semi-final between his old clubs Wigan and Salford.
The former Great Britain scrum-half enjoyed five Challenge Cup triumphs as a player with his hometown club Wigan but later played for and coached the Red Devils.
Gregory was in charge of Salford when they defeated Wigan in the quarter-finals of the 1996 Challenge Cup, ending their 42-match unbeaten cup run.
He remains a popular figure at both clubs and will address Shaun Wane’s squad today, even though Salford claim he had said he would talk to them.
Warriors boss Wane said: “Andy is really keen to come in and speak to the boys.
“He’s a Wigan lad who has won the Challenge Cup five times and he’s my mate, so he will be great speaking to the players about how much it means to get this club to Wembley. It has to be win at all costs – life or death – and about doing anything you can to get the win.”
Yet Salford counterpart Ian Watson revealed Gregory had offered to provide a pep talk for his squad.
The Red Devils boss said: “Greg wanted to come here and speak to the boys because he was telling us he would love nothing more than for Salford to beat Wigan.
“I speak with Greg quite a bit, but if he goes in to speak to Wigan first then he isn’t coming in here.”
Salford hope Robert Lui will shake off a foot injury and hand debuts to Tyrone McCarthy and Manu Vatuvei while Wigan will recall fit-again Liam Farrell and Joel Tomkins.
CASTLEFORD forward Kevin Larroyer accepted a two-match ban for grabbing the testicles of Perpignan’s Vincent Duport in the Tigers’ win on Saturday.