HARRISON’S LANDMARK
It’s 350 not out
EX-WIGAN forward Harrison Hansen always expected to be a one-club man.
But ‘H’ will make his 350th appearance tonight in the colours of bottom club Leigh – against his one-time paymasters. There was a stop-off at Salford in between for Hansen, who returns for his landmark game after missing Leigh’s defeats by Castleford and Leeds through concussion. “When I was at Wigan, I saw myself seeing out my career with them,” said Hansen, twice a Grand Final winner with the Cherry and Whites. “Contracts were there but then I got offered a lot more money to go with Salford.
Fitting
“It is a short career and you have got to make the most of it.”
Hansen, who pulled on a Warriors jersey 242 times, from a debut against Wakefield in 2004 through to the Old Trafford success over Warrington nine years later, added: “I would have loved to have stayed at Wigan but I had my family to think of.
“However, it’s fitting the 350th game is against Wigan. It’s a massive achievement. Not many players reach 350.”
Despite sitting out the last two matches, Hansen has joined the condemnation of Super League’s recent punishing schedule.
But he can still raise a smile about his absence, caused by a failed ‘head test’. He said: “We all do a baseline test before the season starts.
“One test involves looking at cards and you are asked to pick out the card again.
“On my baseline I only got three wrong. I didn’t give myself any leeway.
“But it’s just wrong what players put their bodies through. It is stupid.”
WIDNES centre Chris Bridge, who has played 272 games as a professional, has confirmed this will be his last season.