Dudson talks club and country

Widnes prop Gil Dudson faces stiff competition to claim a World Cup place for Wales.

John Kear named six uncapped players in his 32-man training squad for the 2017 Rugby League World Cup and Dudson doesn’t think it will be easy to make the final squad.

“You always carry a few more in the front row don’t you?” he said.

“There is plenty of competition around the boys. I’ve just got to keep playing well and hopefully I’ll get picked in that final 24.”

This season Dudson has played 20 times for Widnes, often leading the line with Jack Buchanan and has been consistent in a team struggling for form.

“I think my form has been okay, obviously we’ve had a bit of a tough year over at Widnes, but it is what it is,” he added. “We’ve just got to keep plugging away and hopefully turn things around.

“When you have a season like this and you are struggling with injuries, you have to bring those young lads through and quite a few of them have stood up and the future is looking really good.

“I’m 27 now so am kind of a senior figure in the squad with a few injuries that we’ve got to the older players. I’ve had to kind of step up and try and give my experience to the younger lads.”

After bursting onto the international stage, and playing for Crusaders and Wigan, Dudson had a couple of barren years before coming into Kear’s reckoning.

“I came back into the Wales set-up last year after being out for a few years and coming back into John and what he has set in place it was a bit different to what I experienced before but everyone buys into it and everyone enjoys being around,” said Dudson.

“We’ve got a good group and everyone gets on, it’s close knit, there are no egos and everyone knows their role.”