Former England fullback Mike Brown has revealed he received a ‘tempting’ offer from the rugby league side he supports.
“From a young age, I’ve loved rugby league and I still do now,” Brown told League Express.
“My team is Wigan but I don’t know why, probably because they were successful whenI was growing up and I enjoyed watching them win with the great players they had.
“I never really had the urge to go and try play league as I was from the south so there wasn’t really much option to.
“The only time that made me think (about joining league) was after an England game in 2013 or 2014 and a lot of the Wigan staff came and watched because Andy Farrell was a coach back then.
“So there was Kris Radlinski, Shaun Wane and a couple of others and they said if I ever fancied playing league then to give them a call which was nice seeing as I’m a Wigan fan.
“It was tempting because it was Wigan, but I was playing for England then and everything was going well.
“Longy (Sean Long) was a coach then, but the season before, Longy had been a coach at Harlequins and he invited me to observe the environment, sit in meetings and watch them train.
“It was really interesting, it was interesting because they had been going through a really rough patch. I thought I would go in and sense an environment where their heads were down and low in confidence but there was a good buzz about the place, everyone trained hard with a good energy.
“I said to Longy after ‘if you get one win you will be fine and it will roll on from there’ because the environment – which I believe feeds into everything – really impressed me and they got to the Grand Final. It was an interesting trip.”
“It’s personal” – Five players who won’t play for England again under Steve Borthwick
Steve Borthwick has been brutal In his short time in charge of England, dropping a number of major stars ahead of the 2023 Six Nations.
Below, we look at three established stars who are unlikely to win another cap.
#1. Joe Marler
Age: 32
Position: Loosehead-prop
Caps: 83
Marler is unlikely to return to the England team during the 2023 Six Nations after he breached one of Steve Borthwick’s main rules.
The new England boss has a “no sh**talking policy” with England, whereby he expects players to behave appropriately on the pitch.
As a result, Marler was left out of the Six Nations squad despite his fine form with Harlequins this season.
Marler’s latest ban was for six weeks – four of them suspended – after accepting a charge regarding comments made to Bristol flanker Jake Heenan about his mother.
At this stage, an international return looks very unlikely.
DID YOU KNOW? Marler started his career at Haywards Heath RFC in Sussex where he played in the same side as fellow England international Billy Twelvetrees