Bevan French opens up on remarkable Wembley comeback after Wigan Warriors triumph - 'I was going to do it'

Bevan French revealed he never doubted he would make Wigan Warriors’ Challenge Cup final triumph after convincing himself he would return from injury in time for Wembley.

The Australian marked his comeback with a try as Matt Peet’s side dismantled Hull KR 40-10 under the famous arch to lift the Challenge Cup for a record-extending 22nd time.

French had not played since suffering a hamstring injury in Wigan’s win over Toulouse Olympique on March 7. Initially ruled out for around 16 weeks, the 30-year-old battled back through an intensive rehabilitation programme to return around a month ahead of schedule.

His inclusion in Wigan’s squad came as a surprise when Peet named his 21-man squad earlier in the week, but French insisted he always believed he would be ready.

“Matty doubted it for a second, I didn’t!” French joked.

“We had a conversation a couple of weeks ago about making it and trying to fast-forward the rehab process a little bit.

“I think once we had that conversation, I just convinced myself that I was going to come back, I was going to do it, so I just self-talked over those couple of weeks that I was going to make it.”

Asked whether he had effectively manifested his return, French smiled.

“I told Matty I was going to be ready for everything,” French continued.

“Obviously, in the process and everything, I only had a limited amount of minutes I was allowed to play, but if the worst came to the worst and I had to play the full game, I convinced myself I was going to do it.”

French entered the action during the second half and needed just over two minutes to get himself on the scoresheet, crossing for one of Wigan’s seven tries in a dominant display.

The former Man of Steel credited the club’s medical staff for helping him return ahead of schedule after a meticulous recovery programme.

“I did a lot of rehab, I was pretty disciplined to be honest, basically from the get-go since surgery,” he explained.

“Sleep, nutrition, everything, hyperbaric chamber, oxygen therapy - stuff like that. I was just trying to do everything two times a week.

“I wasn’t sure how I was healing until a certain point. A couple of weeks ago, I got a scan result back, and it said it was quite good compared to other people in that timeframe, so that’s when I sort of convinced myself I was going to play.

“Pretty much all the credit goes to the physios and medical staff really - all I did was just get up and do the work. I don’t plan anything out. I was just following orders from the staff, and I got here.”

French admitted a positive scan result a fortnight ago was the key moment in his comeback bid.

“By the time I convinced myself that I knew I could do it, then I think once they got the scan results back, I think they were like ‘okay, there’s actually a chance’.

“Obviously we did testing and you’ve got to sprint as fast as you can before getting on the field. I did that last week and it was probably the fastest I’ve ran in a while, so I was like ‘I can definitely do this’.”

Despite returning earlier than anticipated, French insisted he felt comfortable taking the field at Wembley.

“There’s always a risk,” he said. “I came back a lot earlier than expected. I’m probably going to have to be smart about it now.

“Obviously I was grateful enough to play this game, I’m probably going to get on the beers for a few days, so I don’t feel like playing next week is the smartest thing to do!

“I’ll probably have to go into rehab for a couple of weeks to tick all those boxes again, but there’s no risk I didn’t feel like.”

French’s return came after youngster Jack Farrimond had excelled in his absence over recent months.

The 20-year-old half-back produced a sensational display at Wembley, scoring two tries and playing a major role in several others to claim the Lance Todd Trophy as man of the match.

French was full of praise for Farrimond and joked the youngster may have made it difficult for him to reclaim a starting spot.

“Depends how hard I’ll celebrate!” French laughed when asked about his next target.

“I’m not too sure to be honest, we’ll figure that out next week, I think.”

Then, with a grin, he added: “If I can come off the bench and get the beers - fine - he can do all the hard work!”