Wigan Warriors: Liam Marshall reveals who persuaded him to attend his first rugby league training session

The winger enjoyed a great 2022 season with Wigan Warriors, scoring 21 times in Super League, as well as going over for the winning tries in both the semi and the final of the Challenge Cup.

Marshall states rugby league is in his blood, even if he did need a little bit of persuasion initially.

He said: “Probably for me with rugby, I was watching before I played. I can remember the era around 2005 and watching those Wigan teams.

“My older brother always played, so I went to watch him, but I always preferred playing football when I was younger.

“Rugby only really started properly for me when I went to high school.

“It has been football first before then, but I tried out for every sports team possible when I started in year seven at Standish.

“I made some good friends playing rugby there, who I’m still friends with today, and they sort of pushed me in that direction.

“Nick Gregson and Jake Shorrocks were sort of playing down at Shevington Sharks, and gave me five quid to go down and train with them.

“That was sort of the start of my rugby journey. Since then I’ve really enjoyed it, and I’ve been lucky enough to make it my career.

“I probably would’ve always ended up playing, as my dad had been at Wigan.

“I was never pushed into it but it was a family thing and in the blood.

“Rugby is important when you live in Wigan, and we were just a sport-mad house.

"We played whatever we could.

“My mum probably isn’t the best watcher, but she’s got better with me over time. In the early years she was sort of on edge, but now she loves watching.

“My brothers still play a bit of amatuer and she has the same mentality as watching me in a Super League game. There’s no bias.”