Wigan Warriors chief pays tribute to Liam Farrell as club icon joins exclusive 400 club
Wigan Warriors boss Matt Peet paid tribute to captain Liam Farrell, who made his 400th appearance for his hometown club in Saturday’s defeat to Hull FC.
Farrell became just the 12th player in history to play 400 games for Wigan, joining legends Jim Sullivan (774), Ken Gee (559), Ernie Ashcroft (530), Eric Ashton (497), Sir Billy Boston (488), Shaun Edwards (467), Sean O’Loughlin (457), Jack Cunliffe (447), Colin Clarke (436), Brian McTigue (422) and Bill Francis (400) in the club’s exclusive 400 club.
The 35-year-old sits only behind the iconic O’Loughlin in the Warriors’ all-time appearances in the Super League era.
Farrell has enjoyed a trophy-laden career to date, having won six Super League titles, four Challenge Cups, five League Leaders’ Shields and two World Club Challenge titles since making his first-team debut back in 2010. He is also a six-time member of the Super League Dream Team, and has been capped 12 times by England on the international stage.
A 32-12 defeat to Hull FC wasn’t the result Farrell was hoping for in his milestone match, but his coach Peet paid tribute to the club captain in his post-match press conference.
"First and foremost, he is an outstanding player,” said Peet when asked about what is the key to Farrell’s longevity.
"But I think he is famously dedicated and famously committed, and that’s probably why he has been on the field so much.
"It’s not just the amount of games, it’s the trophies he’s won, the big games he’s played in, the way he’s just performed consistently well.
"It’s 400 games, but if you stacked up his honours during those 400 games, it’d be pretty impressive.”
Perhaps a positive to take from Wigan’s defeat to Hull was the performance of prop Ethan Havard, who played the full 80 minutes whilst slotting into the back-row after Zach Eckersley left the field through injury, with Farrell moving to centre.
Havard made a staggering 50 tackles and 14 carries, whilst also getting on the scoresheet.
“He’s been working hard on his game,” Peet said of Havard.
"We probably weren’t expecting him to play all game, especially in the second-row, but it was one of those days, and that’s where having a fit and mobile squad certainly pays off.”