Five months ago, George Williams was so badly hurt that he was strongly considering early retirement. Now the England skipper is back fighting fit and ready to proudly lead his country at the World Cup.
IT WAS an injury so serious that he might never play again. Suffered against Catalans Dragons in France in April, originally the fear was that George Williams’ Warrington Wolves career was over, with an NRL move agreed to for 2027, and that he might miss the 2026 World Cup. But in reality, the danger was much, much greater.
As Williams explains, it was a neck problem that was impacting his spinal cord and affecting the nerves and feeling in his hands.
“It was basically a minor spinal cord injury,” he says. “I had a disc that bulged down to my spinal cord, so I was getting mad sensations in my arms. I couldn’t feel my hands, basically. I knew straight away something wasn’t right.
“It was a weird one. They basically said it was a near miss. It could have been a lot worse; it could have been my legs and all that kind of stuff. So I don’t even want to think about that.
“I got away with it. With the surgeries they can do now, the surgeon said it is fixable. ‘It’s a major surgery, but if you’re willing to do it, we can do it.’ I think it cost Warrington a couple of quid, to be honest, but we’ve got it done.
“It’s not a common rugby league injury. It happens a bit in rugby union, with the scrums and all that they’re doing. Touch wood, everything’s been good.”
Williams also had to wait a month to go under the knife, which meant his recovery time was pushed back even further. But it proved the right decision.
“There was a four-week wait,” he confirms. “Obviously I had to speak to the specialist and it wasn’t just like your normal injury. It was a different one, so I had to think about what was the best option.
“But then once we realised I was happy to go ahead with the operation, the surgeon, Dr John Leach, has got to be one of the best, if not the best, in England, so he had a waiting list and we had to wait a couple of weeks to get in with him.
“The first week or two we were just trying to sort out what I needed doing and if I was willing to go through it and whether the surgeon agreed and all that kind of stuff. So there was a bit of going back and forth, but we all got it done together.”
Williams’ operation was successful and not only did his rehabilitation go well, but he returned to the field well ahead of time. The halfback was back starring for Warrington from mid-August, with some eye-catching displays helping the Wolves to finish third in the regular season.
“After the surgery, I played 12 weeks post-op,” he explains. “When I first did the injury, there was talk of four months out, six months. So that would be the end of the season and the end of my Warrington career. The World Cup, that would have been a write-off as well.
“I’m just pleased it all went to plan. I’m really grateful. When you get rugby taken away from you, you probably appreciate it more. Not that you get lost without it, but when it gets taken away, the chance is forever gone. It gave me a lot more enjoyment just coming back to training and being with the lads.”
One of the factors that helped his recovery was the strong belief shown in him by the new England coach Brian McDermott. The former Leeds Rhinos boss has long been steadfast that Williams would be his England captain and that his place in the World Cup squad was confirmed, even while he was sidelined.
“Brian’s been really good,” Williams says. “Obviously I’d not met him much, but we’ve been doing Zoom calls on the internet. It’s pretty good what you can do. We’ve been bouncing ideas off each other and it’s been really good to get to know him, not just rugby (wise), but on a personal level.
“I didn’t have a clue about him before, to be honest. I just knew he was a successful coach. But I thanked him for that, the last time we spoke. With the injury, he could have easily said I’m not sure [about Williams’ place in his plans], but he gave me that confirmation and it’s been good.
“We’ve been building on that relationship and I made a commitment to myself and to the team that I’d come back in the best shape possible. I really put my head down over the rehab and I think it’s put me in good stead heading back into the games. I’m feeling good, I’m feeling fresh.”
As the Super League season ends, all eyes now turn to Australia and the World Cup. England not only have a new coach but new assistants (Paul Wellens and Sean O’Loughlin) and new performance staff, while several new players are expected to be blooded and the team possesses a new philosophy heading into the tournament.
Williams has always been close to former England boss Shaun Wane, his club coach during his time at Wigan, but he insists this is an exciting new beginning for the national team.
“It’s a big changeover – new players, new staff, new everything really,” he says. “There’s been a massive turnover. That brings new opportunities, so it’s exciting. Obviously, at first I was disappointed for Waney, but now I’ve spoken to Brian about his plans, and the other staff involved, it’s only natural to feel really excited about what’s next.
“And I think we’ve got a great chance at the World Cup. Don’t get me wrong, we were disappointed in the Ashes, but honestly, we’ve still got some world-class players. You’ve got Herbie [Farnworth] over there and Victor [Radley] playing deep in the finals and we’ve got plenty of good players over here too.
“So we’re not beating ourselves up about the Ashes. As disappointing as it was, we’re excited for what’s new.”
England will need to hit the ground running at the World Cup, with just four field sessions planned before their opener against Tonga in Perth. The winner of that game could decide whether England go through to the semi-finals, or whether their tournament will finish abruptly in the group stage.
Williams admits the pressure will be immediate, saying: “I didn’t realise until a couple of weeks ago that there’s no quarter-finals.
“The first game is crucial. It’s massive. It would be anyway, to start any World Cup campaign, but it makes it a little bit more interesting, you know what I mean?
“That’s a big, big game against a great team. We’ve got to get that right. The Tongan team’s gone from strength to strength. But they’ve also uncovered a couple more superstars during their last three years.
“I think the international game as a whole is stronger than ever with the Samoan team, the Tongan team, New Zealand and Australia. I think there’s five teams, when previously you might have said there are three that could win it.
“You’ve got Papua New Guinea in there, too, that are competing now and are full of NRL stars. So I think for the fans every game should be interesting and quite tight, really.”
England made the semi-final stage at the last World Cup in 2022 and reached the final of the 2017 tournament, losing a close match 6-0 against Australia in Brisbane. The last time Great Britain won the World Cup was in 1970, while the last win over the Kangaroos in any fixture was back in 2006.
England will most likely need to defeat the green and gold if they are to break their World Cup drought in November. But for Williams, who has played Australia several times before and starred in the NRL with Canberra, the Antipodeans are not superhuman. They are beatable.
The 31-year-old doesn’t believe England have a psychological barrier when it comes to playing against the Aussies, but agrees they must produce something different to topple them in the tournament.
“Personally, I don’t think there is a mental barrier. Don’t get me wrong, you know you’re playing against the number-one nation. You know what you’re up against.
“But in the Ashes, the disappointment was that in major periods of the games we competed, and we just fell short. And that’s probably been a reflection of England over the last 20 or 30 years. We’ve competed, but never really got over the line.
“So I think we’ll have to do something different. If we do the same thing, we’ll get the same outcome. So there’s got to be some change. We’ve got to be better. And we’re going to find out if we are pretty quickly, because we’ve not got a long time to turn it around.”
First published in Rugby League World magazine, Issue 525 (October 2026)
