IN the first of our new series for the 2016 Super League season, Wolves skipper Chris Hill gives us the lowdown on teammate Stefan Ratchford

 

IT gives you great confidence when you look around the changing room before a game and you see Stef Ratchford is going into battle with you.

He’s an experienced player, he has words to say about what we need to be doing and he lifts people.

Stef’s been doing that in training in pre-season even though he has been injured. He goes around the boys lifting spirits when doing the conditioning work. He’s a really good influence around the training ground.

On the field he’s very vocal and has that kind of spark that allows him to create something with the drop of a hat, as we have in many players this year including Chris Sandow and Kurt Gidley.

Over the years we’ve seen that bit of brilliance in Stef as he can turn a game on its head whether it’s with a kick, a carry, a tackle out in the centres – he always seems to be there.

Whether he slips in at halves or full back this year, we’ll have to wait and see but I think he’ll bring a real spark, especially with him, Sandow and Gidley on the field. That’s going to be three major threats.

With the speed and agility that Stef has he is suited at full back in open space or in the halves where he can dictate where the team’s going.

He works really hard. He’s professional, one of the most professional people I’ve played with. And as I mentioned he’s been a big influence on people in pre-season even though he’s not been able to train.

We played at Wigan St Patricks together many years ago and grew up together, also played against him at amateur and schools level. You could see from early on he was going to be a professional rugby league player, as you could see in others like Sam and Joel Tomkins.

He’s got some weird characteristics and is one very OCD fella on game day.

Stef likes his times. He likes to be at games for a certain time, he’ll have the same meals before every game, he puts his boots on at a certain time. He really has it down to a tee, very ritual.

If something does go wrong in the preparation, he just adjusts. Sometimes if we’re getting late to an away game you see him getting a little bit edgy and we have a laugh about it.

But all that ‘prep’ shows on the pitch doesn’t it.

I travel in with him and I think he wants to paint the lines on the pitch with the groundsman because he arrives that early. I don’t mind getting there at the last minute and getting changed.

You can have a good craic with Stef. We have a Wigan bus back and to for training – me, Stef, Coxy, Hughesy and Dwyer – and there’s always some shenanigans going on in the bus. Matty Russell has decided to drive on his own now but that’ll soon stop when one of the lads takes his car off him.

I get on really well with Stef. Our wives are quite close, we’ve got kids so we’re pretty close off the field as well.

I’d really like to see Stef get a good run with England. I think he deserves it.

I thought he was unlucky in the Four Nations in 2014 to not get a run but that’s down to other players playing really well as well.

His time will come.