WARRINGTON Wolves head coach Jimmy Lowes says no player has a divine right to a place in his team - even if the player scored the try of the season in 2008.

His comment was the response to a fan asking if Kevin Penny will be an automatic choice on the left wing this campaign.

The flyer, who blasted on to the scene with some sensational scoring feats during the back end of the 2007 season, was initially left out of the team when Lowes took over last May.

Penny had surely notched rugby league’s try of the season earlier in the month in the epic Challenge Cup defeat at St Helens.

Opposition teams, concerned with the explosive threat of Penny’s left-flank partnership with Matt King, had also been enjoying try-scoring success when putting the pair under pressure in defence, which, in turn, knocked their confidence levels.

After being dropped, Penny said he would work hard to return to the side a stronger player, with some monster hits that left Huddersfield attackers reeling in September showing that the former Padgate High School pupil was sticking to his promise.

Penny figured in the friendlies against Wigan and Hull KR.

Lowes, speaking at the close-season fans’ forum, said: “I didn’t know a great deal about Kevin Penny before I came to Warrington. He was thrown in the deep end a little bit.

“Kevin’s getting educated in the game of rugby league. He needs to mature in the right way, physically and mentally.

“Kevin’s got a fantastic asset with his speed but we need to develop other areas of his game.

“I left him out when I first took over for those reasons only.

“But Kevin has no divine right, just the same as no other player has the divine right, to walk into this side.

“I’ll be picking my team early in the season based on work in the pre-season and a little bit based on the opposition we’ll be up against.

“Kevin will feature this season and he will be a very big asset in the long-term future of this club.”

Tomorrow night, Friday, Wolves return to the scene of that Penny wonder try created by Michael Monaghan’s quick retrieval of Sean Long’s kick and Chris Hicks’ clearing run.

The memories have been flooding back for Penny this week, while it remains unclear whether he will figure in Lowes’ 17 this time against Saints.

He said: “The minute the ball left Longy’s boot I saw Hicksy running around the back of the posts and I just knew he was going to get the ball off Monas. It was a great piece of skill by Monas to get the ball to Hicksy and once he did that it was just a case of keeping my width and hoping Hicksy did his job and drew the man in for me.

“Then I made the break and for some reason I had a bit of doubt in my mind when Sean Long came across but I cut inside him and then it was a case of getting my head down and going for it.

“But I had a bit to do because if I’d kept running straight Francis Meli would have put me in the stand.

“It’s always special scoring tries and it’s extra special when you score against Saints. I feel like I’ve got a good relationship with the Saints fans. A good bit of banter goes on during the game.”

Penny confirmed he has continued to work hard in pre-season and said: “I have improved my defence.

“I’m an attacking winger but defence is a big part of the game and it’s something I’ve been working on.

“It’s not been overshadowed by my attacking game, I’m just trying to be myself and keep doing what I do.”