LET'S HAV IT!

Warriors prop star Ethan desperate to erase the memory of last year's Old Trafford injury hell

- DAVE CRAVEN

IT'S 12 months since Ethan Havard's first Grand Final experience ended in agony.

It wasn't because his Wigan side lost they beat Catalans 10-2 in a tense affair at the Theatre of Dreams.

But the England prop, playing his first game in three months following a hamstring tear, limped off just 10 minutes after coming on from the bench.

He had suffered a recurrence of the same injury and, after weeks of intensive rehab, the gamble to play on the biggest night of the year had backfired badly. Havard, who was born in Bulgaria but grew up in Wigan, had no regrets.

But it didn't make it any less painful. He will certainly be undergoing a less stressful build-up to this year's title decider against Hull KR.