LIAM FARRELL has said that the honour of being Wigan Warriors captain is the dream of “every little boy” in the town.
The forward will lead the club in 2023, succeeding Thomas Leuluai, who has now retired and is on the coaching staff alongside his own predecessor as captain, Sean O’Loughlin.
Farrell has played more than 300 times for the club since making his debut in 2010.
A one-club man, he has won four Super League Grand Finals, three Challenge Cups, three League Leaders’ Shields and the World Club Challenge in 2017.
He also won the Harry Sunderland Trophy as player of the match in Wigan’s 2016 Grand Final success over Warrington Wolves.
Farrell’s remarkable consistency in recent years has been reflected by his presence in each of the past four Super League Dream Teams, and he has now been named in five years in total, a tally only surpassed by six other players, while he has been voted by League Express readers as a member of its Super League Team of the Year for 2022.
On the international stage, Farrell has been capped eleven times by England, although the 32-year-old missed last year’s home World Cup, as well as the run-in with Wigan, which saw Matt Peet’s side beaten in the play-off semi-finals, because of a knee injury.
“Every little boy in Wigan dreams of being named Wigan Warriors captain,” said Farrell about his new role.
“Words can’t justify how proud I am.
“The 2023 season is around the corner and I can’t wait to get on the field with the team and play in front of the Wigan fans and represent the town as captain.”
Wigan Chairman Ian Lenagan added: “Liam Farrell has been an exceptional player for Wigan for 13 seasons and I feel sure he will go on to be an exceptional captain, following in the footsteps of Sean O’Loughlin, Tommy Leuluai and a long line of illustrious Wigan captains.”
Farrell will again wear the number twelve shirt this year, while Morgan Smithies has been promoted to 13 following confirmation of John Bateman’s departure to Wests Tigers.
Jai Field (one), Harry Smith (seven) and Liam Byrne (ten) have also been handed starting shirt numbers for the 2023 campaign, along with Wigan’s two new signings Toby King (three) and Jake Wardle (four).
Wigan 2023 squad: 1 Jai Field, 2 Bevan French, 3 Toby King, 4 Jake Wardle, 5 Liam Marshall, 6 Cade Cust, 7 Harry Smith, 8 Brad Singleton, 9 Sam Powell, 10 Liam Byrne, 11 Willie Isa, 12 Liam Farrell, 13 Morgan Smithies, 14 Mike Cooper, 15 Kaide Ellis, 16 Ethan Havard, 17 Kai Pearce-Paul, 19 Joe Shorrocks, 20 Patrick Mago, 21 Iain Thornley, 22 Brad O’Neill, 23 Abbas Miski, 24 Logan Astley, 25 Alex Sutton, 26 Harvie Hill, 27 Junior Nsemba, 28 Zach Eckersley, 29 Tom Forber, 30 Ramon Silva.
