THERE was something special about seeing Jon Clarke line up for Great Britain on Saturday.

With all respect to Adrian Morley and Martin Gleeson - both fine players who have performed well during the Test series - they were established internationals when they signed for Warrington Wolves.

It would be a major surprise if they didn't play when the serious business is being played out.

Clarke, sporting a mane befitting of a Lion, has not always been thought of as an international but has come a long way in the last few years and thoroughly deserved his selection at the KC Stadium.

Wolves desperately needed leaders when players were falling all around them during an extraordinary season of injuries this year.

Clarke, whether by luck or sheer determination, did not miss a game through injury all year and stood up to be counted.

He may have had to play out of position on several occasions but he has always been underrated as an emergency half back and his kicking game is better than he is given credit for.

Those who were at Odsal in 2005 will remember Chris Bridge scoring 24 points against his old club as Wolves completed a remarkable comeback to beat Bradford.

But it should not be forgotten that it was Clarke's switch to half back after Nat Wood joined Lee Briers on the injury list that was hugely influential.

And Clarke is one of the good guys of rugby league, too.

There is no trace of an ego and over the years he has always been willing to give his time to speak to the media, whether that be during a high point like this week or when Wolves were struggling mid-season and finding the answers to questions cannot have been easy.

And Clarke talks in a candid way that suggests that Warrington Wolves really matters to him - Great Britain matters to him, too.

When he was called into the squad for the mid-season Test against France, there was no doubt how much he wanted to play.

I saw him minutes after the final hooter at Headingley, where he had to watch on as 18th man.

Morley was on a massive high after captaining his country for the first time but Clarke cut a lonely figure in the tunnel area. I have rarely seen him so down.

But, knowing Clarke, he wouldn't have caused a scene.

He knew what he had to do - finish the season as he started it and hope that would be good enough to play next time.

On Saturday, he got his chance. Here's hoping there are many more chances in the years to come.

* Strange fellow, Gordon Strachan. The Celtic manager can be amusing when he wants to be but a journalist's nightmare when he's not in the mood for an interview.

Last week he hit out at the media for spinning the words of his players, suggesting they had given their time to be nice to journalists only to be exploited.

Now I don't know whether he had a case in this instance - the media is not always entirely blameless - but his insinuation that everything would be better if they never gave journalists the time of day was wide of the mark.

After all, without media coverage, football would not be big business and the salaries of managers and players would be, well, somewhere near that of the journalists they're so quick to chastise.