Nigerian-born British rugby player, Martin Offiah has shot his mind back to a controversial moment he had in his career, when he decided to make a switch from one sector of the game to another, megasportsarena.com reports.
It happened when he was 21 years old, at time when he appeared to have a booming career well mapped out, and he decided to cross carpet from a club in the rugby union to one that was on a high in the league sector of the same sport.
Playing rugby union for Rosslyn Park already saw Offiah making a name for himself in the 15-man code, especially on the back of a memorable display for The Barbarians on their traditional Easter tour of Wales, and full England international honours seemed just around the corner.
There was also the likely opportunity of him being part of England’s squad for the inaugural Rugby World Cup in 1987, and the winger himself could barely have imagined he would instead be crossing the divide between union’s amateurs and league’s professionals later that year.
Despite once again showing his try-scoring prowess for London against The North in an England trial, Offiah was not among those travelling to Australia and New Zealand for the World Cup, with Rory Underwood, Mark Bailey and captain Mike Harrison being the wingers chosen.
Offiah set the world of rugby league alight during his first season, scoring 42 tries – breaking Frank Myler’s Widnes club record for most in a season in the process – as the Chemics secured a Championship and Premiership double, not to mention winning the Man of Steel award.
It was as part of Wigan’s all-conquering team of the 1990s where he truly became a household name though, scoring 186 tries in 159 appearances from 1992 to 1996 and winning every domestic honour.
It was during his time with the Cherry and Whites he got the chance to returning to his roots as well, being part of the Wigan team which took on Bath, at that time the kings of English rugby union, in the Clash of the Codes matches in May 1996.
Offiah was the star of the show in the league leg at Maine Road, running in six tries as Wigan stormed to an 82-6 win, and featured as they were beaten 44-19 by Bath at Twickenham in the return.
However, he and his Wigan team-mates did taste some glory at union headquarters in the Middlesex Sevens, with an all-star side which was a who’s who of rugby league greats, plus present and future cross-code stars.
Then a phone call asking if Offiah would be interested in speaking to Widnes head coach Doug Laughton set in motion a chain of events, which he recalled eventually led to him moving north in an £85,000 deal and changing his life forever.
Offiah told Sky Sports: “I’d had some flirtation with rugby league in the past. I remember being at a sevens competition and someone claiming to be from Hull saying would I be interested in playing rugby league, and I batted that away and didn’t think much of it.
“I had no intention of signing for rugby league, my intention was to play for England because I’d played for England Students. I’d played for the Barbarians and divisional rugby, so I was on my way. I scored two tries outside Rory Underwood [in the England trial] and I thought ‘that’s it, I’m getting the call for the World Cup.
“That didn’t happen and then I got a random phone call one summer’s day when I was nursing an injury thinking ‘what am I going to do with the rest of my life?’ I had no intention of signing for rugby league, my intention was to play [rugby union] for England.
“I knew I’d out-grown Rosslyn Park, so was I going to go to Wasps or go to Bath and study at Bath University? But the phone rang and I can remember as if it was yesterday. Sometimes phone calls change your life and that did. That was the beginning of professional rugby union, it was Wigan trying to stamp their brilliance and show the world.”
