INSIDE MAN

Widdop, born in Halifax but raised in Melbourne ...now he aims to help England end 11 years of pain against the Aussies he’s played with and against all his life

GARETH WIDDOP will be surrounded by familiar faces when he looks to end an 11-year drought against Australia on Friday.

The national team has not beaten the Kangaroos since Great Britain’s famous 2006 win in Sydney, ahead of the World Cup opener in Melbourne.

It will see Halifax-born Widdop return to the city he grew up in after his family emigrated, before he burst onto the NRL scene with Melbourne Storm.

Now at St GeorgeIllawarra, where he was voted the competition’s best stand-off this season, he will face a host of former Storm team-mates in England colours with his divided family sat in the stands at AAMI Park. Veteran Melbourne trio (right, from top) Billy Slater, Cooper Cronk and Cameron Smith will again pull the strings for Australia, and Widdop dismissed any notion their advancing years will diminish their powers.

He said: “Cronk, Smith and Slater are a bit older but they’re still smart players. It’s always a good challenge.

“You want to play against the best players in the world and we’ll get the opportunity on Friday to do that.

“They’re a big part of my journey I suppose as I started down in Melbourne.

“My family are coming to the game and I’ve still got a few friends who live in Melbourne. My wife’s parents still live about 40 minutes away, so they will all turn up and come and support me.

“I’m not sure who they’ll be cheering for though!”

Widdop used to be a key part of the Melbourne creative hub that unleashed full-back Slater, who has returned to the Australian side after two injury-hit seasons.

Widdop said: “It’s good to see Billy back.

“He had a rough two or three years where he maybe didn’t quite know what was going on with his career but it’s great to see him back playing some good rugby.

“He’s a smart player and while we’ve got to be wary of him, we can’t just put all our focus on him.

“We’ve got to worry about ourselves first and if we do that, things will take care of themselves.

“We are all confident, we have a great squad now we need to believe in each other and what we’re about.

“If we can do that, we’ll give it everything we’ve got and who knows what can happen.”