Being told “You’ve been s***” by your Great Britain coach wouldn’t normally bode well for a player.
Getting that damning verdict at the start of a five-week tour in front of your team-mates sounds even worse.
But Lions winger Jermaine McGillvary says he took Wayne Bennett’s assessment on the chin - because he agreed with him.
McGillvary said: “Wayne said how s*** all year I’ve been but that he picked me because as soon as I put on an international shirt I produce my best. He said it in front of all the boys and they were laughing but Wayne said he trusts me and I like that honesty.”
The 31-year-old Huddersfield star added: “The facts are that my team finished close to relegation and although we had some stand-out performers I wasn’t one of them. Wayne doesn’t hold back in what he tells you but I’d rather have that than someone who sugar coats things.
“He says it how it is but then he helps you fix whatever is wrong. He doesn’t just let you struggle, he helps you move forward.”
Super League top try scorer Tommy Makinson withdrew on the eve of the tour Down Under with injury leaving Bennett with just two wingers. But Bennett has such faith in McGillvary and Ryan Hall - another player who’s had a poor season - that he refused to call up a direct replacement for Makinson.
McGillvary said: “Some people have asked how it feels knowing that I’m going to be picked every week but I don’t look at it like that.
“I’ve been picked for this Saturday’s match against Tonga but I’d never take it for granted and I’m never relaxed about it. There are other players who could play on the wing and I try not to waste any training session.
“I’m coming to the end of my career and this is a massive opportunity to play for Great Britain. I’m going to do everything I can to stay in the team.”
McGillvary - the player of the tournament at the 2017 World Cup - came to rugby league late having spent most of his youth playing football. But he knew about the Great Britain team because winger Henderson Gill lived a few doors away from him.
McGillvary added: “I knew he played but to me he was just a normal bloke and I went to school with his kids. It was only years later that one of the Huddersfield players saw me with him and told me he was an absolute legend.
“I hadn’t realised, but knowing that a local kid from Huddersfield was that inspirational to so many people was really special for me.”
