FORMER Wigan Warriors forward Ben Flower has joined up with the Challenge Cup debutants South Wales Jets ahead of their first game in the competition.
Also alongside Flower is ex-Toulouse Olympique hooker and Welsh international Lloyd White with the pair putting their brains together to help the new Welsh players prepare for their entry into rugby league’s most historic competition.
🚨HUGE NEWS🚨
As we look ahead to our first time in the Challenge Cup we wanted to make sure the lads are as well prepared as possible.
Jets RL want to say a huge thank you Ben Flower and to Lloyd White who is a Welsh International for coming on board to prepare the squad pic.twitter.com/XwWPdOQj02
— South Wales Jets (@JetsWales) December 15, 2023
Based in the Welsh town of Pontypridd, the Jets were founded by Liam Price, a former rugby union prop, who spoke to the RFL website about how the venture came along.
Price discussed tough times and mental health struggles which took place during the COVID-19 pandemic, after he had been placed on furlough and had to become semi-retired from rugby union.
“When COVID-19 hit, it was a hard time for a lot of people. I was a workaholic and it felt like it was all being taken away,” Price said.
“I knew I wanted to get back into rugby somehow.”
“The idea was to start a social team, and we’d get together once or twice a year to have that social aspect back in our lives.”
Now the Jets will host West Yorkshire-based amateur side Stanningley in South Wales in the first round of the Challenge Cup.
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