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At the best of times, being a rugby league
supporter can be hard. Sure there are many highlights, from the glory of
winning a club game to the triumph that comes with winning a premiership.
However, before we can enjoy any success, we are often faced with many trials,
challenges and disappointments as we support our favourite rugby league team,
in the toughest competition. As a Bulldog supporter, the glory and
disappointments are regular emotions faced throughout a season. I’m not here,
however, to bore you all with the recent Bulldogs season, as I know I
personally have suffered enough through that. Rather, I’d like to focus on the
other team I support, the Wigan Warriors.
Why bother you ask? Here in Australia there isn’t a great deal of positive press regarding the Super League competition. In fact you’re lucky to hear anything about it at all. The only time it gets a mention in Australian media is when a player signs and even then it’s small mention either in the newspaper or on the news. I want to share my story and experiences along the journey that has seen me come to support the Wigan Warriors in the hope that it encourage others to not only appreciate the Super League but to open your eyes to the talent that is out there so if one day a player does sign with your club, you will know who they are and won’t have to rely on Google and Youtube to inform you.
For those of you unfamiliar, the Wigan
Warriors, also known as the ‘Pies’ who don the famous cherry and white, are one
of the teams competing in the English Super League, the NRL equivalent on the
other side of the world. Truth be told, I wasn’t always a supporter of Super
League, however as my rugby league journey goes, I was exposed to it through
one player making a change for his family, resulting in me finding a new team
that I would grow to hold a special place in my heart.
I realise by now people would be wondering
why I would bother wasting my time on a team that I have to wake up at ungodly
hours to watch on tv or live stream on the internet (and that’s only if you’re
lucky) and unless I can travel to England, I have little chance of seeing them
play live.
To be honest, I asked myself the same
question back in 2008 when my favourite player, Cameron Phelps, left the
Bulldogs mid season to join the Wigan Warriors. I had no idea who they were,
only that if he was going there, they were good enough for me to support. And
so I did. Less than a month after he joined the club I had a jersey arrive on
my doorstep. Little did I know this was the start of what was to be an
emotional supportive rollercoaster.
In the short time I’ve been supporting the
club, I’ve seen them win two premierships and two Challenge Cup titles. This
year will certainly go down as one of the best. At the start of the year, no
one gave them hope and you can’t blame them given they had lost their halves
pairing of Brett Finch and Thomas Leuluai and that was only the beginning of it,
as well as the circulating rumours of Sam Tomkins leaving the club to join the
New Zealand Warriors.
From the start of this season they were
never meant to make the eight, let alone the top four and they did. They were
told they wouldn’t win the Challenge Cup and they did. Having lost many of
their games before making the finals they were told they wouldn’t make an
impact, but they did. They were told they wouldn’t win the premiership and they
did. Wigan sent the strongest message to the journalists and media to never
underestimate a team as it can, and in this case has, backfired greatly on
them.
To
win a Challenge Cup is a fantastic effort, to then go on and win the
premiership as well, making it a double, is something else.
Supporting a team in the Super League is no
different to supporting one in the NRL. So, there may be a distance between
countries and the time difference sucks (trust me, I’m not a fan of the 3am
wake up calls either) but when it comes down to it, the emotions you feel are
the same. Watching Wigan win those titles has been some of my happiest Rugby
League memories (not including the Bulldogs grand final wins of course).
Nothing compares to watching the captain, Sean O’Loughlin, lift the trophy high
above his head in triumph. What a wonderful feeling.
There is also a great amount of talent competing
each week in the Super League. Like the Burgess brothers, James Graham and
Adrian Morley before them, have made the successful transition to the NRL. Next
year will see the likes of Sam Tomkins (NZ Warriors), Lee Mossop and Gareth
Hock (Parramatta Eels) join the NRL.
Although I’m biased, given the admiration I
have just expressed for Wigan, I am excited to see Tomkins battle it out in our
wonderful game. It’s a credit to him for wanting to challenge himself against
some of the best, like Slater and Inglis. I have no doubt he will shine and
make a name for himself, like he has in the Super League. I am also equally as
excited to see Lee Mossop play. He’s a tough player that puts his heart into it
every game and I have no doubt Parramatta fans will come to love him just as
much as I do.
So what does all this talk about Wigan and
the Super League have to do with anything? At the start of the season, it was
announced that the World Club Challenge will be played in Australia next year.
For me, this will be a chance for me to fulfill my dream of seeing Wigan play
live, given they are the current premiers of the Super League. Personally, it
doesn’t get much more exciting than this. If nothing else, at least the World
Club Challenge gives you something to look forward to during this painful
period known as the offseason.
While I understand the Super League isn’t
for everyone, I encourage you to watch at least one game. Sure waking up
anywhere between 12am and 5am isn’t great, you never know, you might find you
enjoy it. Better yet, you may even find yourself finding a place in your heart
for one of the teams like I have with Wigan. Or if that doesn’t happen, at
least you can find solace in knowing in Australia we don’t have to listen to
Stevo and Eddie and their bias commentary each week (you thought Hadley was
bad, wait till you hear them).
Still not convinced? Youtube ‘Pat Richards
field goal’ and ‘Joel Tomkins Challenge Cup try’. If they don’t convince you,
at least you were hopefully entertained by some highlights of the Super League.
Hopefully the opportunity arises and I do
get to see Wigan play here in Sydney for the World Club Challenge*. You can bet
I will be sitting there proudly wearing my Wigan jersey cheering them on. Until
then, I’m thankful for the Super League coverage on Eurosport and the internet.
At the end of the day, it is rugby league,
the greatest game of all, that brings us all together and unites us in our
love, passion and dedication for the game.
*Based on the assumption the WCC will still
be played in Australia. Awaiting official confirmation from the NRL.
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