The tall Australian isn't about to lose two feet in height, turn milk-bottle white and sprout ginger hair.

But he and his fellow countryman have been heading down the same road in the pursuit of long-service medals.

Dallas stayed at Wigan for seven seasons, to make him the longest-serving Aussie player in the history of the club.
Now Richards is on his tail.

The goal-kicking winger has signed a new three-year contract, months before his current deal expires at the end of this season.

It will keep Richards at the JJB Stadium until the end of 2011, when he will be 29-years-old.
And there's every sign that he won't want to go home even then, putting Dallas' long-service record very much to the test.

The 26-year-old has become one of the most prolific goal-kickers in world rugby league, and would have been in hot demand if he had decided to relaunch his career in Australia.

The irony is that it was onIy when fellow Australian Michael Dobson left Warriors at the end of the 2006 season that Richards suddenly found himself with a far weightier onus of responsibility on his shoulders.

He admitted that he thrived on it, so much so that other leading clubs on the other side of the world started to sit up and take notice.

Richards revealed he 'had options' next summer, but when it came to decision time, the pies and pier beat the surf and sunshine any day of the week.

Richards said: "When I first came to Wigan at the start of 2006 I never
dreamed I would be staying for six years or even longer.
"These moves are always an adventure, a step into the unknown.

"I must admit I've been surprised by how easily I've settled in and by how much I enjoy it over here. So the decision to stay wasn't really a difficult one.
"I did have options, but I always wanted to stay.

"My family and I love it over here.
"And the time has just flown by.
"It was always just a matter of hoping that Wigan would want to keep me.

"Brett Dallas was in his final season with Wigan when I joined the club and he'd been here for a long time.
"It looks as though I'm following in his footsteps."

Richards struggled to rule out leaving Warriors in 2011, while the end of his career is an even more distant prospect to which has been applied little consideration.

He added: "I'll only be 29 when my new three-year deal expires and hopefully if my body has held up okay, I'll have a few options open to me then as well."

The enjoyment factor took a bit of a hit at the weekend though, when Richards and his Wigan team-mates endured a right pummelling at the hands of St Helens at the Millennium Stadium.

He had called on his fellow Wigan players to put matters right immediately, starting with the Challenge Cup game against Whitehaven at the JJB Stadium on Monday.

Richards said: "We lost the game in the first 20 minutes, which was frustrating – we'd talked about the need for a good start all week.

"Possibly the only positive we can take is that we know we can play a lot better and that St Helens would appear to be a bit of a jinx team of ours at the moment.

"And that is something we certainly need to turn around. We've got to get that defeat out of our systems.
" The Wigan fans certainly deserve a lot better."

Meanwhile, Richards hopes to return home and pull on an Ireland shirt at the end of the Super League season.
Richards – who has Irish parents – is planning to turn out for the Emerald Isle in the World Cup Down Under.

He and his wife Kim had their first child last year and are keen to return to Australia and combine the autumn with some top flight rugby and family reunions.

It was, ironically, the birth of his son and the trip Down Under to show the new arrival to family and friends that forced him to miss
October's successful final Irish qualifier with Russia.
So if Richards is selected, it will be based on his form for Warriors for the rest of term.

Many punters will feel confident uncertainty in the Irish camp will be banished as one of Wigan's most consistent performers continues to ply his trade on the hard, dry summer tracks.

And no matter what the fate of Ireland in the World Cup, there is one certainty: Brett Dallas...sorry, Pat Richards, will be back in a
familiar cherry and white shirt next year.