A couple of weekends ago I popped up to Wigan for the World Club Challenge. My team St George were playing the Wigan Warriors to decide the best Rugby League club in the world. That won’t mean a lot to most of you – apart from Ben Searle, a faithful reader and enormous Saints fan – but it meant a lot to me.
You see I’ve been following the Saints all my life – and apart from two premierships in the late 70′s there hasn’t been a lot to cheer about. There was last year’s drought-breaking premiership of course, and that’s what brought them over to the UK on a chilly night, late in February. I just had to be there.
I was pleased to have the chance to get back to Wigan as well. (Especially when the return ticket from Epsom only cost £29). It was one of the real highlights of my big trip around the UK, a welcoming place where the locals have Northern Soul Allnighters in the shopping centre, have the highest percentage of pie shops per capita in the world and spend their days sucking on Uncle Joe’s Mint Balls. (More about that in Blimey! when it comes out.)
I was staying with Joanne, a friend I’d met on my previous visit, and she took me to her local, the John Bull Chop House. It’s a brilliant old pub with a great jukebox loaded with the classics and a landlord who barred me after Saint George won. I was too happy to care and he was too drunk to kick me out, so no harm was done. If you ever find yourself in Wigan make sure you pop in.
As for the pies – go the Muffin Man. After an extensive taste test, in clinical trial conditions, it was deemed the best.
I seem to have rambled in this post – a bit like the weekend, really. All you need to know is that St George won and all is well with the world.
Well, my world anyway.
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You are always welcome back to Wigan………………Just leave your rugby team in Australia!!
My world, too.
To some people Rugby League is an obscure game played in the North of England and the North-Eastern seaboard of Australia (and PNG) but to me being the champions of the World is as big as Liverpool (or Forest, for you, Peter) being European Champions.
To continue the Liverpool analogy, we hadn’t won since 1979, when I was 1 and I thought we’d never win again. It took fate and hope, both in equal, measures to bring the trophies home and now I am in dream land.
Wigan was the best day of my life, the culmination of 31 years of everyone telling me “you’re not famous anymore”. Well, are again are now and for 12 moths I am gonna embrace it!!
As I messaged you, there are a few re-writes in your future: “it was as likely as St George ever winning the Premiership again”. It would have to be the sweetest re-write ever, though.