Josh Charnley salutes ‘Greg’ for his lack of attitude at Warrington
JOSH Charnley insists he does not have Australia legend and rugby league icon Greg Inglis inside him – just plain old Greg.
But after feeling his wrath as an England player, he knows his new Warrington team-mate still has it after seeing him in training.
Winger Charnley moved sides and had Inglis as his centre as the 34-year-old made his debut against Hull KR on Saturday.
Despite scoring a try, Inglis believes it will be another three or four games before he is up to speed.
But Charnley is blown away at just how the World Cup winner, the three time NRL champion, the 10 time State of Origin winner and one of the sports’ greatest ever goes about his business.
If he did not know, he could just be another man playing his part.
Charnley said: “Greg could’ve come over and acted like he’s the big b******s but he’s putting time into the club and the foundation.
“And there’s no hesitation if anyone wants to go and speak to him. He’s a part of the crew, everyone gets along with him and he’s good to have.
“He’s guiding the lads too, particularly players like Matty Ashton and the younger ones – but the younger ones may not know much of him!
“I’ve played against Greg for England and when Wigan went to Sydney for the 2014 World Club Challenge, I trained against him.
“Watch his clips and see all he’s done but having him in our camp now is a different ball game.
“He’s world class, even though he hadn’t played for two years. It’s like he’s not had a day off and in training, we see he’s still got all those attributes.
“It’s good for the team and the game here to have someone like Greg over here.”
Charnley and Inglis’ next step sees Warrington face Catalans Dragons in the Challenge Cup quarter final tonight.
After playing in Perpignan and having five days quarantine, which he says was not as bad as it sounds despite constant Government checks, this tie will be in Leeds.
And while the pain of losing 2018’s final to the French side still hurts, expect plenty of laughs as it will be a meeting of friends from Wigan, not least at Sam Tomkins’ ref moans.
“I think I’ve played with half their side,” Charnley added. “There’s Sam and Joel Tomkins, Gil Dudson, Michael McIlorum and Tom Davies.
“Sam’s matured as a player and a person. He’s enjoyed his time there and is expressing that through his rugby.
“He’s their key man and is loud. He’s an organiser and is always talking to the refs, that’s just Tomkins.
“When he does it, I just laugh. He’s just doing it to wind the refs up!
“But in 2018, we beat ourselves really. We were a bit too cocky on the day. We won the year after and we want that taste again. Hopefully we’ll turn up tonight.”