Hero Dom nearly quit to become HGV driver
UNTIL last month, Wigan winger Dom Manfredi had spent two torturous years on the sidelines which forced him to consider quitting to become an HGV truck driver.
The 25-year-old suffered a serious knee injury at Castleford in August 2016 and the same injury in a reserves match last August.
But he scored twice on his comeback against Warrington on September 14 and bagged another double against them in Saturday’s Grand Final.
“It has been an unbelievably dark two years and many times I felt like giving up,” he said.
“I started HGV driving and was planning on doing my test but as I was getting fitter I pushed it back.
“This has made every minute worth it, but if you’d told me two months ago I’d score twice in a Grand Final win I’d have told you to shut up and said I had no chance.”
Wigan’s director of performance Mark Bitcon said: “Dom’s dedication and perseverance, I’ve never seen anything like it in my 20 years in sport. From a month ago thinking, ‘If this doesn’t work he might not play again’ to scoring a winning try in a Grand Final is an unbelievable story. That’s testament to the man.”
There was no shortage of blood, sweat and tears on Saturday after Manfredi was forced off for a while with claret pouring down his face after bravely denying opposite number Tom Lineham a try.
Manfredi said: “There was blood pouring from a cut straight into my eyeball, so I needed 10 stitches.
“But there wasn’t any doubt I’d be going back out there.”
An ugly half-time tunnel bust-up between both sets of players has been included in the match commissioner’s report and will be studied by RFL officials today.
It followed a clash between Warrington’s Bryson Goodwin and Wigan’s Morgan Escare in the first half.
Escare’s team-mate and fellow-Frenchman Romain Navarrete said: “Goodwin pushed Morgan and he’s my mate, so I went to help him.”
LEEDS scrum-half Richie Myler has replaced the injured Luke Gale in the England squad for the autumn series against New Zealand and should feature in Wednesday’s warm-up game against France.