LIAM FARRELL was delighted to play his 450th career game – and hasn’t ruled out a push for the big 500.
The Wigan Warriors captain marked the occasion on Friday by scoring two tries in a 48-10 victory at Wakefield Trinity.
His opening try brought up a second impressive milestone – his 150th touchdown for Wigan.
“As a backrower you don’t look to get loads of tries so I’m very pleased about that one,” said Farrell.
At 35, he recently lifted a fifth Challenge Cup to go with six Grand Final wins and a pair of world club crowns.
Farrell has made 426 of his career appearances for Wigan, alongside six on loan at Widnes Vikings, 16 for England and two for England Knights.
“I’ve been around a long time now and I’ve hit a lot of milestones but I wasn’t sure I’d get to 450, so it’s a good honour to get there,” he said.
Farrell is contracted until the end of next season and would likely need to go a further year to reach the next big number, but he added: “Maybe. I’m taking it year by year, we’ll see how we go.”
Wigan laid down their title credentials against Wakefield with more of the classy attacking play which brought wins over Hull KR at Wembley and Catalans Dragons in Paris.
“We’re in a bit of a purple patch in terms of the way we’re playing,” said Farrell.
“In games like that when everything is going well for you, it’s easy to play like that.
“But it’s all built on the effort earlier in the game and you get your rewards afterwards. We know that hard game always has to be there.”
It’s not long since Wigan lost four league games on the bounce so Farrell knows fresh challenges will be ahead – in particular the ‘Challenge Cup hangover’, which hasn’t yet hit.
“It’s evident in the past that it has happened and we’re well aware of that,” he said.
“The week after the Challenge Cup final is always the big one but I think we put in a very good performance against Catalans in Paris, which was another big occasion. And going to Wakefield, they were third in the league, so it was a big game.
“We’re well aware there could be a blip for us in the near future, but if we keep putting our best foot forward in terms of how we apply ourselves, we’ll be in a good position.”