Liam Farrell: My top five Australians to play for Wigan Warriors

Pat Richards

I broke into the Wigan side in 2010, and Pat killed it that year - he cleaned up at the awards nights, including winning the Man of Steel.

People remember him as being one of the best goal-kickers the club has ever had - he was outstanding. I’ll never forget his drop-goal from the touchline at St Helens!

But he was so much more than a kicker, he was the ultimate professional, a tough player, a great winger, and a top bloke as well.

Trent Barrett

I know Wigan have had some great Australian players, but I’m not old enough to remember many of them.

Trent is the only player on this list who I didn’t play alongside, but I couldn’t leave him out.

I saw a lot of him when he came in for the 2007 season, and he really helped lift the club after a couple of tough years.

You could just tell when he played. I remember watching a semi-final away at Leeds, I think it was ‘08, and they never really looked like winning but he was still pretty special that day. And the players here who played alongside him - Lockers, Joel, Tommy - speak really highly of him.

I’ve got to say, too, that Adrian Lam would be in this list, too, but he was born in Papua New Guinea - he was one of the key men Wigan had when I was growing up.

Blake Green

I’ve got to put Greeny in - if I didn’t he would kill me!

But genuinely, in 2013, I felt quite a bit of pressure because Gaz Hock had left, and I got a ‘starting number’.

Greeny was on my edge and he really helped me out, he gave me a lot of space and it was great to play alongside him.

He’s a really good fella, and he bought into being a Wigan player - he genuinely loved it, and I wouldn’t be shocked to see him back at some point.

It was nice to see him do well at Melbourne when he left Wigan, he helped Manly kick on and I think he’ll do a good job at New Zealand Warriors.

Matty Bowen

I remember when I heard we were going to sign him, thinking, ‘We’ve done well to get him.’

He was such a silky player for the Cowboys and Queensland.

Soon after joining us, we went to a pre-season camp in Florida, and I don’t think he’d mind me saying he wasn’t the hardest trainer!

But some of the things he did on the pitch were outstanding.

When he found his feet, not many could touch him. Some of the individual things he did were really classy. He was only at the club a short time but you could put together a pretty impressive highlights reel, and in his last game for Wigan – the Grand Final loss to Leeds – he was our best player.

Ryan Hoffman

He only spent one year at Wigan but he left a big impression on me.

It was only my second year in the side, and being a back-rower, I learned a lot from watching him and being around him in training.

He joined from Melbourne, where he had worked with Michael Maguire before, and when he was here he helped set the standards.

He didn’t have the most flair, but he did everything to a really high standard - he did the simple things well. He defended tough and carried the ball well, and Sam speaks really highly of him, having also played at New Zealand Warriors with him.