Jenny Meadows on her love for Rugby League and Wigan
Ahead of tomorrow night’s Gillette Four Nations showdown between Great Britain and Australia, World Championship 800m bronze medallist Jenny Meadows talks about her passion for Rugby League…
“I come from Wigan where the game is not football or Rugby Union, but Rugby League. My father, Keith, was an avid fan so
I was brought up on the game.
I remember when Wigan got to Wembley (for the Challenge Cup Final) all the shops were decked out in cherry and white.
The team would bring the cup back every year – the players would go on an open top bus ride around Wigan. I’d be there with my dad. It was kind of the annual thing we expected back then.
There is so much happening in Rugby League. So much is happening off the ball, with the tackling and handling errors, and it’s just such a physically demanding game. I like the video ref, when the whole crowd is waiting to find out whether it is a try or not. I just think it's a great spectacle.
I used to learn all the players’ names at the time – Denis Betts, Phil Clarke, Steve Hampson and Shaun Edwards – and I used to recall them to impress my dad.
My favourite player was Henderson Gill – I loved it because when he used to score a try he would do a little dance. The commentator used to say ‘he’s doing a boogie’ and I always wanted him to score.
I watched many test matches between England and Australia when I was younger. If the games were in Australia we would set the video to record and wake up the next morning to watch it – we’d always try and avoid the score so it was a surprise.
Wigan dominated the game in the late Eighties and Nineties – they were head and shoulders above the rest. Even now when I go abroad and I say I’m from Wigan they say ‘you used to have such a good rugby team.’
I wish we could go back to being as good as we were but I just think the other teams have caught up.
I hope they can get back to the top once again.”
***England play Australia on Sat Oct 31 in the Gillette Four Nations tournament at Wigan’s DW Stadium. If you want a copy of the official match day programme, which includes more on Jenny Meadows’ passion for Rugby League go to www.themagazineshop.com
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