The Englishmen that have made Canberra premiership contenders
It is the Battle of Britain forged in the unseen depths of the Super League — and Canberra’s rampaging Pommy imports are ready to leave their mark on the NRL premiership campaign.
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Initially, Josh Hodgson was just some Englishman who busted through a door. Remember that?
Back in 2015, when the little hooker arrived at Canberra HQ with all the anonymity of a wrong number.
Unknown, except for some homemade video which, shot weeks earlier, and after a Four Nations loss, showed the No.9 busting through some house party door like Lou Ferrigno circa 1977.
Certainly fellow Raider John Bateman remembers.
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“Every time we go for a beer,” the backrower revealed this week, “I call that video up on my phone.
“Of course, Hodgo, he’s always telling me to get it off. And great fella, to be fair. Best hooker in the game too.”
So when the bloody hell are we Aussies going to catch on? Undoubtedly, it has to be time.
Especially given that at a sold-out GIO Stadium on Friday night, the underdog Canberra Raiders are set to unleash four Englishmen on a South Sydney rival boasting three burly Burgeii and the country’s Test coach.
And by now, everyone knows the lime green quartet of Hodgson, Bateman, Elliott Whitehead and Ryan Sutton. Together, transforming Canberra into a genuine premiership force.
But as for when coach Ricky Stuart first announced them? Think nothing but crickets.
“I’m not surprised,” Hodgson conceded this week. “The NRL, it’s like football back home.
“It just dominates everything. So while English rugby league fans know the Australian game, not many here know our Super League. But that’s just the way the world goes.”
Bateman agrees.
“Coming here from England, nobody expects anything of you,” he said.
“That’s why if you do go well, people make such a big thing of it. It’s because nobody ever expected anything from you anyway.
“Usually when clubs sign an Englishman, the first thought from fans is ‘why didn’t we buy an Aussie’.”
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So as for now having up to seven countrymen in an NRL preliminary final?
“Couldn’t give a shit, if I’m honest,” Bateman laughed. “Obviously it’s great for the game back home, but I’m just focused on getting the result.”
Which starts, of course, with getting over Sam Burgess — a fella he knows well.
“I remember being sat in the crowd as a kid, watching him play for Bradford,” continued the undeniable favourite for NRL Buy of the Year. “I was 10, maybe 11.
“My brother used to take me to games. I remember watching Sam play for Great Britain too, especially that game he smashed Fuifui Moimoi. Seeing another English lad do that, I was so proud.
“I’ve now played alongside him a few times, roomed with him too. I actually spoke with Sam a lot before deciding to come out here.”
And as for why Stuart now collects Englishmen like your nan once did teaspoons?
“No idea,” Hodgson shrugged. “But I know it isn’t a lucky dip. The boys Ricky has brought here, they’re the right ones.”
Tougher than Aussies?
“Ah, now you’re trying to get a headline out of me,” the skipper shot back, grinning. “I just know the longer we spend here, the more we get used to life changing and the easier it becomes to settle.
“It’ll be great to have so many of us out there on Friday night.”
Originally published as The Englishmen that have made Canberra premiership contenders