Wigan Warriors captain Liam Farrell says his debut season for the club got his career off to a 'dream' start

The 32-year-old has recently been named as the new club captain, taking over the armband from Thomas Leuluai following his retirement.

Farrell made his first senior appearance for Wigan back in 2010, and states he was determined to make the most of the opportunity.

He said: “When I first joined the academy, I was just thinking about progressing through the club.

“It was the U18s and then the U21s, so you wanted to get through that as fast as you could to make your debut.

“I was lucky that it came in 2010 when the club had a massive change.

“They brought Michael Maguire in, and Shaun Wane as his assistant.

“I still remember it pretty well.

“It was Wakefield on Easter Monday. I had been in and around the first team in 2009 but had never played.

“Waney (Shaun Wane) told me about the transition, and that I needed to work hard to get a chance.

“I just kept my head down.

“For the first few games I was involved in, I was 18th man, but then Easter Monday came around and George Carmont pulled out, so I went onto the bench.

“It was pretty surreal and I loved every minute of it.

“I played 50 minutes and was lucky enough to go over for a try. It was probably my worst on record but they all count.

“It was just a great experience.

“My family were very proud, and funnily enough that year I played about 22 games, which finished with a Grand Final.

“I couldn’t ask for a better debut year. I was in the team pretty consistently every week.

“I was only 19 at the time. I only wanted to play my debut. If I had only played a handful of games then I would've been over the moon, so to do what I did is something you could only dream of doing in your first year of rugby.

“I’m quite level-headed. I always have been. I’m not a big one for going on nights out and stuff like that.

“I’m good at making the right choices at the right time.

“That’s probably because of how much rugby league means to me and how I want to keep this kind of career.

“I know what I have to do to keep going.”

Farrell believes he really benefitted from working with Michael Maguire and Shaun Wane in the early stages of his career.

“I was very fortunate that I had two coaches who were very big on the simple parts of the game, which is being good defensively and carrying the ball strongly,” he added.

“Technically they knew the game inside out so it was good to learn from them.

“That has probably been a big part of what has set me up for such a big career.

“I believe it was a great foundation for me going forward.

“In the early years I didn’t start that many games, but came off the bench a lot, but that was great for me moving forward.”