Wigan Warriors' Mick Cassidy cycling for THIRTY HOURS for charity

Mick Cassidy at home on his stationary bike

He will start pedaling on his home machine at 6am tomorrow and finish at 12pm on Sunday.

Ex-players Wayne Godwin, Ewan Dowes, Chev Walker, Keith Senior and Nick Fozzard are also taking part in the tiring ride from their homes.

Money raised is going to the Rugby League Cares charity, while some others taking part in the energy-sapping challenge and supporting the Motor Neurone Disease Association following Rob Burrow's diagnosis.

Former Wigan forward Mick Cassidy is head of youth at his hometown club

Cassidy said: "I'm looking forward to it. It's something totally out of my comfort zone.

"I think going through the night will be tough, maybe the period between 2am and 4am.

"I did a cycle to Wembley a couple of years ago and I enjoyed it, so I thought I'd give this a go."

Cassidy, who spent more than a decade with his hometown club as a player and is now the head of youth at the Warriors, will be keeping in touch with the other participants through Zoom.

And he admits the competitive juices may start to flow as they near the end of the ride.

"We're predicting Wagga (Godwin) will go off too fast and fade!," he smiled.

"We've all spoken about keeping a steady pace but I'm sure as the finish line gets in sight we'll speed up.

"But it should be good, we'll be on Zoom so we can keep each other going, and there are a couple of NRL games on to watch as well."

The participants will be allowed 10 minutes off every two hours and Cassidy is hoping to celebrate the feat with a Sunday afternoon barbeque - if he can stay awake.

He is hoping to raise £1,600 from the ride and can be sponsored through the Justgiving website here