“Dad said it was one of his favourite days” Liam Marshall on emotional Cup win

Scoring the winning try in a Challenge Cup Final is a moment that very few rugby league players will ever get to experience. 

Yet Liam Marshall’s thrilling match-winner at Tottenham in May had even greater meaning, it being for the club his dad David played for in the 80s.

“His career finishing early through injury and me being able to have the career that I have had maybe gives a little bit back to him,” Marshall reveals of the extra motivation for his own success. 

“He was very emotional and said it was one of his favourite days ever when we won the Cup.”

David Marshall played 39 times for Wigan in the last 80s and early 90s, growing up with Shaun Wane. 

And Liam has opened up about the dynamic of his relationship with his dad on this week’s Love Rugby League Podcast.

“Dad never pushed me to do anything. He is quite chilled and relaxed,” he says.

“Being an ex-pro you would expect us to talk about rugby a lot but it is the opposite. We rarely speak about it.

“He comes and watches every game but always waits for me to talk and never forces anything. Even as a kid I picked football and he never forced me towards rugby.

“Even when I was part-time and my attitude wasn’t right he never stepped in. He let me make my own mistakes and my own choices. I have a lot of respect for him for that.”

WARRIOR: A brave, risky move: How Matt Peet has transformed Wigan

Challenge Cup hero Liam Marshall almost quit rugby league

Marshall reveals his remarkable back story on the latest episode. He explained how his professional career almost got in the way of his planned career path to become an accountant.  

“It got to the point where I just didn’t know if I wanted to commit to do rugby,” Marshall said. “I could have just trained up to be an accountant.

“They were conversations I had with my parents, partner and Matty Peet. I just said ‘I don’t know whether this is right or me and if I can commit to doing all this on top of a job’.

“When I did my ACL in lockdown in 2020 I started back up with doing my accountancy qualification. I am still doing now on the side, it takes my mind off rugby and I quite enjoy it. 

“My dad always told me to have something to fall back on so I am trying to keep up with it. I just ended up doing it at college because they saw I was decent at GCSE maths so I went along with it. It’s not a bad little pastime for me.”

PODCAST: Liam Marshall on almost giving up on rugby league, England hopes & Peet’s Wigan transformation

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