The RFL

Wigan Warriors prop Stuart Fielden will make his eagerly-awaited comeback against his former Bradford Bulls team-mates on Saturday but Wigan old boy Terry Newton misses out because of injury.

Fielden, the game’s most expensive signing at £450,000, had shoulder surgery in the close season and then damaged a bicep in training but he is set for a place on the bench against the Bulls at the JJB Stadium.

"He has trained really well this week," said coach Brian Noble, who will finalise his line-up an hour before kick-off.

It will be Fielden’s first game since the engage Super League play-off defeat at Leeds last October.

His return is timely in the wake of the Warriors’ 24-22 defeat by injury-hit Hull and the suspension handed out this week to second rower Phil Bailey, who loses his ever-present record.

Bradford’s veteran prop Joe Vagana, who played alongside Fielden for six years at Odsal, is expecting the former Great Britain forward to bounce back after a low-key season in 2007.

"It will be a big boost for Wigan and tough on us because he is a quality player," said Vagana.

"He’s his own toughest critic and I’m sure he’ll be trying to put last year to rest and start afresh against us tomorrow."

Newton, who was the subject of an inquiry from his former club earlier this year, misses his first match since last May after failing to shake off an ankle injury.

That paves the way for another former Wigan hooker, Wayne Godwin, to make his first start for the Bulls on what will be his first visit to the JJB Stadium since leaving the Warriors for Hull in 2006.

Former Wakefield Wildcats winger Semi Tadulala is set to make his competitive debut for Bradford after recovering from a broken cheekbone, sustained against Wigan in Paul Deacon’s testimonial last month, and half-back Ben Jeffries is recalled after being dropped following Bulls’ opening-day defeat at Belle Vue.

Bradford coach Steve McNamara, whose side have lost two of their opening three matches, pinpoints Wigan playmaker Trent Barrett, the former Australian Test stand-off, as the biggest threat to his side.

"They have some very special players in their squad and in Trent Barrett they have one of the best players in the competition if not the world," he said.

"We can’t afford to just focus on Trent Barrett because of the good players they have in their squad but he is an indicator of a lot of the good things they do.

"We need to fix some of our own things up and, if we do that, then we know we are a match for anyone."

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