Oliver must be hungry for more
OLIVER GILDART has been challenged not to fade away as a one-hit wonder for England.
The Wigan centre scored a sensational try on his debut last weekend to beat New Zealand 18-16 in the first Test.
It will live long in the memory of all England fans but James Graham says the real challenge now lies ahead for Gildart, 22.
Graham, who has taken over the captaincy from the injured Sean O’Loughlin for tomorrow’s second Test at Anfield, said: “That try will live with him forever. But does he want to be the kind of guy that has one or two caps and one bit of magic?
THE LINE-UPS Lomax, McGillvary, Gildart, Connor, Makinson; Williams, Tomkins; Hill, Hodgson, Graham, Whitehead, Bateman, Thompson. Subs: Clark, G Burgess, T Burgess, Milner.
ENGLAND (likely): NEW ZEALAND:
Watene-Zelezniak, Maumalo, Marsters, Manu, Rapana; Nikorima, Johnson; J Bromwich, Smith, Warea-Hargreaves, Liu, Proctor, Fisher-Harris. Subs: K Bromwich, Blair, Taupau, Ah Mau, Tapine, Hughes. REF: G Sutton (Aus). Kick-off: 2.30pm. TV: BBC2.
Or does he want to be the guy that holds the centre spot down for the next decade? I’m pretty confident it’s the latter.”
Graham is predicting another close showdown with the Kiwis. And the 33-year-old prop, who will win his 43rd cap, believes both sides will need something extra special to win.
“It could come down to one moment again,” said Graham. “There’s a win next to our name from last week, but make no mistake, New Zealand played well. I’m imagining the Kiwis are going to be better than they were and we’ll have to go up again.
“Whether it comes down to a moment of magic, or a piece of skill, or great defence, we’ll see.”
Kiwi danger man Shaun Johnson is under pressure against England with a firestorm whirling around him back home. New Zealand Warriors stunned the half-back and the rest of the NRL by revealing this week he is free to leave. The club have been slammed for dropping the bombshell while Johnson is in England, in the middle of a three-Test series.
He had a low-key game in the opening Test defeat in Hull and needs a big response more than ever.
Half-back partner Kodi Nikorima said: “I thought it was pretty harsh how it all came out, with him being on the other side of the world, not having control of that.
“I’ve spoken to Shaun about it. I just told him, ‘Stay focused, you are part of this team now and the rest will take care of itself’.” The two halves were well controlled by England in Hull and Nikorima admits they need to shine at Anfield. “Credit to England they did their homework on us and didn’t give us many options,” he said. “It hurts when we are not getting it right.” Liverpool-born Graham spent nine years at St Helens before moving to Australia in 2012 and is still a passionate Everton fan. But he is happy to make his Anfield debut if it helps grow the sport and said: “Hopefully we can expose it to a new audience and they’ll want to keep watching it. “Look at how skilful it is, how tough, how competitive. There’s a fatigue factor in there, it’s physical, there’s a little bit of violence. For me as a sports fan, if you’re to marry all those things together, I’d want to see more of it.” SUPER League holders Wigan will play NRL winners Sydney Roosters at home in the World Club Challenge on February 17 next year.