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At first glance Martin Offiah and Adam Hills make for an odd couple. The east Londoner who has scored more tries in professional rugby than any other Englishman, dressed in all black smart casuals, and the comedian turned TV presenter from Sydney, wearing an old Australia jersey and rather scanty playing shorts, have been riding around the capital on an Ashes-branded red London bus. They were recreating Offiah’s 1994 Ashes promotion, Hills playing the part of Cliff Richard.
But Hills and Offiah have things in common. Both in their 50s, they live in London, watch as much rugby league as they can, are famous in Australia and the UK, and are both world champions. Yes, you read that right. Hills became world para tennis champion earlier this year and Offiah lifted the World Club title with Widnes and Wigan. His 501 senior tries is bettered only by Billy Boston and Brian Bevan, but he didn’t win the World Cup or the Ashes, something that leaves him with that nagging headache.
Having made an extraordinary impact on the 13-man code after moving to Widnes in 1987, Offiah played in four Ashes campaigns and lost them all 2-1. He faced Australia four times at Wembley, all tight games decided by fewer than nine points, winning two Ashes Tests and losing two World Cup finals.
“I’ve won against Australia, gone to Sydney and won the World Sevens, beaten Brisbane Broncos in their own back yard, won a Test in Brisbane, in Sydney, won at Wembley in 1994 after Shaun [Edwards] was sent off. We can beat Australia with 12 men but not with 13! But I still haven’t got that Ashes win. I came close on a few occasions. That’s the thing that still rankles me.
“It is what it is, but if Mal [Meninga] hadn’t fallen on my knee in the second Test at Old Trafford in 1990, I believe we would have won the Ashes and it’s a totally different landscape. That’s the one that got away. We were 90 seconds away. I was on the treatment table. Carl Gibson went into the left wing position and there’s a video of him getting barged out of the way by Mal, which would have been a penalty in this current day. There’s no way that Ricky Stuart’s getting all the way down my left wing if I’m on that pitch. But, you know, you’ve got to win. I’m gonna take it to the grave.”
There is a statue of Offiah outside Wembley, a stadium he knows well. “People remember all my Challenge Cup finals at Wembley with Wigan, but the first time I played there was the first Ashes Test in 1990 when we won back-to-back Ashes Tests,” says the 59-year-old.
“There is a mystique about Wembley. A lot of Australians have grown up getting up early to watch games at Wembley but there hasn’t been an Ashes game at Wembley for well over 20 years so this will definitely be a moment in time. When an English team plays against Australia in an Ashes or a World Cup final – that is the ultimate test. Hopefully England will be up to it.”
Hill believes that England can harness their home advantage. “There will be a whole bunch of Australian players who haven’t played against England, who haven’t played at Wembley and might not have even played for Australia before,” he says. “Most of our players have never been there. England have got to take advantage of that.
“I’m betraying my nation here, but there’s a real feeling in England – an aura – about the Australians and the NRL. They need to cut through that and just go: ‘They’re just a bunch of footy players. Have they trained any harder than us? No. Have they prepared any better than us? No. So let’s not treat them as if they are gods.’ Go out there to try and beat them.”
Offiah agrees England must shred their inferiority complex. “Back in my day, you knew every two years we were playing against Australia in an Ashes series. But hardly anyone’s ever played against Australia. The difference now is a lot more English players have had success against Australian clubs, but not playing against Australia.
“There’s a host of players, George Williams and Jack Welsby, for starters, who’ve starred in the NRL or won World Club Challenges in Australia. Australia like to write their own narrative; they gloss over that Penrith Panthers have lost three World Club Challenges. The England squad have all got experience in the NRL or against New Zealand, Samoa and Tonga, who are all laden with NRL players. There’s more than enough talent there to rewrite history.”
Given his role with the Rugby Football League, Hills is having to ride two horses. “As an Australian I hate saying this but, as president of the RFL, clearly you want England to go one up in the series. Bearing in mind how many Australians are in London, we’ll almost have a home ground advantage so every English fan needs to get down there to drown out the Australians.”
As an avid South Sydney Rabbitohs supporter, Hills has plenty of memories of Offiah touching down for Eastern Suburbs, St George Dragons, England and Great Britain. “I’m finding it really hard to be friendly to him,” he says. “I was raised to not like you scoring a try. It’s in my DNA. But I’m genuinely a little bit starstruck as well. Martin was one of the huge imports into Australia, with loads of publicity around him, one of the superstars of the game. And really flashy. You know when you meet someone from the opposition team and it turns out they’re actually a really nice guy? It’s exciting.”
Offiah has been retired for as long as he played in an extraordinarily successful and prolonged career. His Super League finale for Salford was in 2001 before a few months back in union with Wasps. And yet, like Hills, he remains one of the sport’s most famous faces.
British rugby league desperately needs high-profile backers and cut-through events, which makes it baffling that the RFL and ARLC somehow sidelined it for two decades until this streamlined Test-only tour. Despite Australia winning every series since 1973, they only lead the head-to-head 59-54 and series wins at 20-19.
“Opportunities like this don’t come around very often, you’ve just got to grasp it,” says Offiah wistfully. “Life itself is an opportunity: to live on this planet and do what you want to do. It’s just a microcosm of life. I’ve had my opportunity and now it’s theirs. I’d love them to do it.”
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