Junior Nsemba addresses NRL and rugby union ambitions as interest grows in Wigan Warriors star

Wigan Warriors star Junior Nsemba has revealed he did have interest from the NRL prior to signing his new long-term deal with the Super League champions: but a switch didn’t interest him.

Nsemba, who has emerged as one of British rugby league’s breakout stars this year, was tied down to a new six-year deal with the Warriors earlier in 2024, keeping him at the club for the foreseeable future.

However, his incredible displays for the all-conquering Super League champions have left many feeling it is an inevitability he will test himself among the world’s best in Australia at some stage.

But Nsemba, speaking to the Daily Mail, insists that right now, he only has one thing he wants to do: represent Wigan Warriors and repay their loyalty.

“The NRL were interested, but I wasn’t interested,” he said. “It’s nice to get recognition and people be interested in me, but when the staff are looking after you at a club like Wigan, it’s a loyalty thing.”

Nsemba also admitted he wouldn’t have any interest in switch codes and chancing his arm in rugby union – despite training with Sale Sharks when he was a youngster.

“I don’t get the sport!” Nsemba said. “I genuinely don’t get it with the way they tackle and everything. I’d need to watch it a bit more first. In the future, I can think about it. But right now, I am loving rugby league.”

Wigan CEO Kris Radlinski admitted Nsemba is the ‘face’ of the competition going into 2025, and that the Warriors have no intention of letting him go any time soon.

Radlinski said: “He is probably the face of Super League at the moment. We are going to work with him for the next stage of his career to raise his profile but he is doing a lot of it himself. The world’s his oyster. He has a wonderful future.”

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