DESPITE having only turned 25 last month, Ben Currie has been through greater adversity than many rugby league players will experience throughout their entire careers.

Entering the latter stages of the 2016 season, the promising young second rower was flying as one of the most dangerous attacking weapons in Warrington Wolves’ arsenal.

Indeed, he would go on to be named in that year’s Super League Dream Team.

But two years of injury hell, two devastating anterior cruciate ligament injuries, limited Currie to only a smattering of appearances for the Wire in 2017 and 2018.

On those ‘dark days’ in recovery, occasions such as the Challenge Cup final at Wembley can seem a long way away.

The England international said: “You spend plenty of dark days stuck in the gym on your own or in rehab.

“Sometimes you feel like you don’t want to do the work, or you want to cut corners.

“But when you think about days like this, you want to be back out on that field – it gets you through those moments.

Warrington Guardian:

“Days like this definitely make it all worth it.”

Named at stand-off on the teamsheet but lining up on the pitch in his familiar position on the left edge, Currie put in one of his strongest displays since his return from injury during the cup final.

He added: “I feel like I’ve been improving week by week.

“You want to come back at 100 per cent, but it can take a while.

“Early on, after my first few games back, I think I realised myself that it would take a while to get back to where I want to be.

“I definitely feel like I’m getting there now.”

And lifting that famous trophy has helped him to banish another painful memory.

The Wolves academy product was inches away from scoring the winning try at Wembley during the 2016 Challenge Cup final, but a tackle from Hull FC’s Danny Houghton dislodged the ball as the try line beckoned – and the Airlie Birds claimed victory.

“Before the game I tried not to think about it,” Currie said.

“It was three years ago now and I didn’t want that to affect any decisions I made going into the game, but you can’t hide from it with all the build-up to it for weeks on end – that tackle is getting shown again and again.

“I can’t hide from it, so I’ve got to embrace it.

“Hopefully when the Challenge Cup comes around again people will start mentioning us winning the trophy rather than the tackle.” Having made his debut in 2012, the last time that Warrington won the cup before this season, Saturday’s win marked the first time Ben Currie has picked up a major piece of silverware with the club – complementing the 2016 League Leader’s Shield.

And he was blown away by the reception as tens of thousands of Wire fans took to the streets for Monday’s homecoming parade from Woolsto n to the Town Hall.

The Lowton-born forward added: “It’s such a good feeling.

“I didn’t know what to expect at the homecoming.

“You don’t realise how big it is until you experience it yourself and you’re on top of that bus looking out on the fans.

“We’ve won the League Leader’s Shield on the way and we’ve been to finals and lost before, but I’ve never really experienced a winning feeling like this.

“You can’t put into word how good it is, and the buzz that there is around the town.”