CONGRATULATIONS to Wigan for their superb welcome for Sir Billy Boston before their home game against Huddersfield Giants on Friday night.

Sir Billy must surely be the most famous man in Wigan, as he has been for so many years, and it is wonderful to see him able to celebrate his knighthood at the age of 90 and to be welcomed by a big crowd at The Brick Community Stadium, especially when he was sitting on his throne surrounded by his family, some of his old teammates and the members of the current Wigan squad.

In the circumstances the Wigan players couldn’t possibly have let him down by not beating the Giants.

And yet in the first half it looked as though they might, with the Giants leading 10-0 at half-time against a strangely ineffective Wigan performance.

Of course if everyone’s eyes were initially trained on Sir Billy, once the match started the majority of Wigan fans would no doubt have been looking in the direction of Christian Wade to assess whether a rare signing from rugby union these days was going to show that he can make the grade as a Rugby League player.

And I’m quite certain that any fair-minded supporter would have concluded that Wade surely has what it takes to make a success of his change of codes.

He was extremely sharp on his feet and he was willing in defence. He inevitably was caught out of position a couple of times, but my reaction to him was entirely positive.

My only regret, which I’m sure some Wigan fans will share, is that he didn’t come to Rugby League ten years earlier.

Although he looks a young 34, no one can defy the ageing process and inevitably he will only have a relatively short career in our game, although I hope he is still with Wigan in 2026.

And what a time to make his debut, when the club was paying tribute to a player who first made his debut for Wigan some 72 years ago.

The link to those days long ago is something we will all remember.