Zak Hardaker dropped by Wigan for Good Friday derby with St Helens after 'failing to meet standards'

Wigan Warriors have stood Zak Hardaker down for this weekend's derby with St Helens after the centre 'dipped below the standards' expected of the player off the field, Matty Peet has confirmed.

Hardaker has been in impressive form for the Warriors so far in 2022, but he will not feature in their biggest game of the year to date after the club decided to drop him for the derby. Peet would not specify the exact nature of the reasoning for the decision, but confirmed Hardaker had 'failed to meet some of our standards'.

It is a major blow for the Warriors, who will also be without Iain Thornley after he suffered a shoulder injury - but the latest controversial incident in Hardaker's career is undoubtedly the major talking point heading into Good Friday.

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"Zak comes out but that's not an injury, he failed to meet some of our standards off the field so he'll come out of this week's fixture," Peet said, before insisting Hardaker remains a central part of his squad. "He's reacted well since being told that and he remains part of our plans going into next week. But he won't feature this week."

When asked for more details about the incident, Peet said: "We'll keep it in house, it's been dealt with swiftly and openly and honestly. Zak is disappointed not to be involved but he understands."

Peet continued "I understand the job, me and Zak have got a good relationship and he understands where we're at. We deal with it and we move forward; Zak is part of the team but we've got to protect the team first."

When asked if he could feature as early as Easter Monday, Peet remained cautious. "We're going to take each game as it comes, all I'll say is he