WOLVES’ players could be back to work as early as October.

The squad will sign off for the current season by the end of this week before departing on a team break to Spain.

Head of coaching and rugby will then give his players around a month off but preparations for next season will be underway by November.

“They’ll be in this week,” said Smith.

“They’ve got some testing to be done before they’re away. They’ve got some physical tests they need to do before they have a break.

“They’ll be done by Friday so they’ve got another week. Unfortunately it’s not another month because we’d like to be in the play offs but they’ve got to get through this week then they’ll have a short break and we’ll be back into training late October, early November.”

A break will do Wolves good, as injuries have seriously taken their toll on the squad over the past month.

Nine first-team players were missing for the victory against Harlequins on Sunday, with Chris Hicks, Matt King, Jon Clarke, Paul Wood, Brian Carney, Simon Grix, Louis Anderson, Paul Johnson and Vinnie Anderson all sidelined.

Proper rest and recuperation should see Warrington back to full strength by the start of Super League XV, while the club will also be helped by the arrival of new signings Richie Myler, Ryan Atkins and David Solomona.

Smith said: “We were missing eight or nine players this week that you could probably argue would be in the starting 17.

“Put that sort of injury toll to any team in Super League and that’ll test you.

“That’s how it’s been for us for the last month, six weeks probably.

“We’ve been tested in that respect but we were able to lift against Harlequins and I was pleased for them.”