It is not just the walls of Wigan Warriors’ plush Robin Park training complex that are draped with the historic moments of rugby league’s most famous club. Almost everywhere you turn in the town, there is a nod to the great players and triumphs Wigan recalls with immense pride.
The modern era has not exactly been short on supply when it comes to similar memorable moments but in terms of teams and players that will stand the test of time, it is not unreasonable to suggest this current incarnation of Wigan Warriors is on the verge of entering the pantheon of the club’s all-time greats.
Ask anyone for their standout Wigan team and most would almost certainly reply with the team of the late 1980s and early 1990s that dominated the sport. Martin Offiah, Shaun Edwards, Ellery Hanley, Andy Farrell et al. That Wigan side is the only one to have won three league titles in succession – and they went on to win seven in a row.
The only Wigan side until now, perhaps. Victory over Hull KR in Saturday’s Grand Final would guarantee a third straight Super League title for Matt Peet and his squad, only the fourth time in rugby league’s 130-year history such a feat would have been achieved by any club, not just its most successful.
Their captain, Liam Farrell, grew up idolising the greats of that legendary Wigan team which included his own cousin. The scale of what he and his teammates could achieve is not lost on the 35-year-old. “I’d be lying if I said that wasn’t on my mind, the three in a row,” Farrell said this week.
“It’s been spoken about a lot this week, the opportunity we have here. That Wigan team you speak about did a lot more than win three in a row but to be involved in three is not lucky, it’s four or five years of hard work. We’re 80 minutes away from that and I believe we can go down as one of Wigan’s great teams. To do that as captain would mean a lot.”
Having won an unprecedented quadruple last year and dominated the British game for the best part of three years, it is not unreasonable to question what still motivates this Wigan squad. For Farrell, the drive to get up and go again is twofold.
“Honestly, I still have a fear of losing,” he smiles. “I hate losing and, being part of this club, it’s built on success and winning.” But having swept the board last year, Farrell also admits to being slightly irked by watching Saturday’s opponents, Hull KR, lift the first two trophies of this year. They are now the ones trying to deny the Robins a historic treble.
“It really stings seeing other teams take your trophies off you,” he says. “What we had the year before, and the trophies metaphorically disappear from your cabinet but they do deserve it. Hull KR have been great but make no mistake, it’s added to our motivation to get this last one of the year, seeing them win the others.”
This has quickly emerged into Super League’s most compelling rivalry. Hull KR return to Old Trafford looking to avenge the 9-2 loss on this stage last year, and they have shown this season they are very much the equals of Wigan. But there is more that binds these two great clubs than divides them.
Just like Hull KR speak openly about their deep-rooted connection to their local community, the same is true – perhaps even more so – in Wigan, where rugby league is more akin to a religion than a hobby. That point is not lost on the Wiganer who has driven this revolution, Peet.
“A lot of rugby league towns are like that, small communities, working class,” Peet said this week. “A lot of people have their challenges in life so if we can give them a break from that and inspire a little bit of positivity then it’s a good start. If we have 28,000 fans here at the weekend, I probably knew a lot of them before I got the job and got to know a lot more since.
“I know a lot of people are ingrained in the community and they support me. Also, it brings a pressure no doubt, but it’s one that I enjoy.”
Wigan are favourites once again this weekend and so, perhaps not today, or maybe even tomorrow, would the Warriors’ achievement fully be appreciated, if they manage three in a row? In the years to come, this group would surely be spoken of as one of rugby league’s – not just Wigan’s – all-time great sides.
