Having gone from a clean sweep of trophies with Wigan in 2024, to no silverware and no England Ashes call-up in 2025, Junior Nsemba has seen both sides of rugby league early on in his career, and he is looking to learn from the experience to make 2026 as successful as possible.

TWELVE  months ago, Junior Nsemba was the toast of Super League’s season launch event.

The competition’s newest star – and one of its biggest in a very literal sense – was the main attraction at Manchester’s Co-op Live arena.

And he embraced the role fully, going as far as to offer a very passable Michael Buffer impersonation on stage to promote Wigan’s upcoming trip to Las Vegas.

A few weeks later he delivered an outstanding performance in the States, the athletic, six-foot-five force of nature helping tear Warrington to shreds with his devastating carries.

Backing up from the previous season, when Wigan won all four available trophies and Nsemba’s immense contribution was reflected in a Super League Dream Team appearance and an England debut, this was clearly a young sportsman fully in his element.

But all players face challenges soon enough, and last year brought his first. While still strong, the Warriors failed to clinch any silverware, second best to Hull KR. And Nsemba’s performances came under scrutiny for the first time, leading to his being left out of the England squad for the Ashes.

As a result, at this year’s season launch – held across town at the National Football Museum – Nsemba, while still the same infectious personality that makes him stand out for more than his mere physical presence, is a more introspective, measured and perhaps mature character.

“In 2025 I wouldn’t say there was a dip, but I set such a high standard for myself,” says the now 21-year-old.

“I still know that I’m capable of doing what I did, but I just need to find that spark again. 

“Hopefully this is the season I can do it, and prove that I’m not a one-hit wonder.”

To do that, Nsemba plans to lean on Wigan’s council of elders, not least his captain and back-row partner Liam Farrell, 14 years his senior.

He adds: “I’m still young, aren’t I, so there’s still a lot of tactical things that I can ask Liam about because he’s been in the game a long time and been successful. He’s been in the worst and the best situations. 

“It’s about asking questions, being open minded, not closing myself off and thinking that I know everything. I want to develop by asking questions.

“At a young age winning everything was nice and all, but last year we lost everything and I want to find different ways to deal with that.

“This year I’ll ask more questions. I might drop Willie (Isa, now player support and development officer at football giants Chelsea) a message, I might ask Faz (Farrell), I might ask Lockers (Sean O’Loughlin, assistant coach).

“You never know what’s going to happen in a game. It’s just about dealing with that in the right way. This season will be a better season.”

Nsemba made his first-team debut in August 2022, shortly after turning 18, and started to catch the eye the following season. After scoring his first career try in a Challenge Cup victory at Leeds, commentator Dave Woods memorably said: “Remember, remember, Junior Nsemba” – and we certainly have.

In some ways, Nsemba is your typical rugby league player – born and bred in Wigan, down to earth and with more interest in family than fame.

In other ways, less so – the Cameroonian heritage from both parents, his appearance in a fashion magazine and chess as his leisure pursuit of choice.

“I do like to play card games and chess,” he says. “I’m not too much of a Netflix guy – I’m trying to get into it, but I just can’t sit still.”

We can believe that – he rarely has in his progression to the top.

Rugby was far from the first sport that young Nsemba – junior Junior, if you will – tried his hand at. First came football, in which his uncle Rigobert Song and cousin Alex Song, both ex-Cameroon internationals and Premier League stars (Rigobert with Liverpool and West Ham, Alex at Arsenal), excelled.

He explains: “I was playing football for Cherrybrook and Winstanley Warriors, but when I joined Wigan St Judes that’s the team I stuck with from like 11 (years old).

“I tried different sports like tennis and swimming, but I wasn’t good at them. I was alright at football – or I’d say I was alright, anyway! – but I wasn’t playing the position I wanted to. Joining Wigan St Judes and then the Wigan scholarship, I didn’t look back.

“Wigan St Judes did it for me. It was just like a family. The coaches and the parents, they got my parents involved, they made sure no one was left out. It was just fun to play. You got your hot dogs and burgers after and you just enjoyed it. Win or lose, you’re with your friends.

“When I was a kid, there was no pressure. I was purely playing the game because I enjoyed playing with my team.

“I was the tallest on the team which was a bit of an advantage – but I was always getting targeted!”

He passed every test to work his way onto the famed Wigan production line, and within four years could call himself a Super League player.

“I was making my debut with a few of the young boys, the likes of Zach Eckersley, Tom Forber, Ben O’Keefe (now of Oldham),” added Nsemba.

“That took a bit of pressure off my shoulders because I knew that I was doing it with people that I have played with in the scholarship and it’s pretty nice to go out there with them.

“I was nervous and excited – my belly had butterflies in it. I tried to go out there and don’t get me wrong, I got smashed, but it was a good welcome into Super League.

“I had a lot – and still do have a lot – to work on. At the time I had Willie Isa, Kai Pearce-Paul, Liam Farrell, to learn from. It was just me developing my game week in, week out in academy and reserves and playing the right games. 

“Right now I’ve a starting number which is a privilege, but it’s not letting me get comfortable. There are other people who want to start. In the Wigan Warriors team there’s always competition, so you never take a seat.”

Pearce-Paul, another giant back-rower who is entering his second NRL season at Newcastle Knights after winning the lot with Wigan, has been a particular influence on his nascent career.

“When I was a young kid, he really worked with me,” explains Nsemba. “We’ve got the same jokes and now we’re pretty good friends. He made it pretty easy for me to settle in and settle down.”

Wigan smartly tied Nsemba to a new contract, lasting until 2030, a few months before he sparkled in front of NRL eyes in Vegas.

But he would very much like to be reunited with Pearce-Paul in Australia this autumn when the World Cup comes into focus, with England to be under new management following Shaun Wane’s departure as coach post-Ashes.

“It was disappointing,” he admits of missing out in that series. “But it puts some fire in my belly knowing that I have got to work harder.

“Waney picked very good back-rowers who are hard to compete with, but going into this season and the World Cup at the end of the year, hopefully my rugby with Wigan will do the talking. The club is at the front of my mind right now.

“It (making the World Cup) is on me really. If I want to get into the squad, I need to be performing at my best. If I feel like I need help, I have got the coaches and players around me to talk to.”

First published in Rugby League World magazine, Issue 518 (March 2026)