Jackson Hastings: Representing Great Britain is proudest achievement of my life

Drew Darbyshire 06 Feb 2020 11:07 AM

Jackson Hastings says singing Great Britain’s national anthem was the proudest moment of his life.

The 24-year-old, who was born and raised in Australia, qualifies to play for England through his grandmother and earned three caps for Great Britain last autumn.

Hastings, who won Super League’s Man of Steel last year, has made no secret of his immense pride of representing his heritage.

He said: “Playing for Great Britain is the proudest achievement of my life.

“To be surrounded by world class players is one thing but to learn more about my heritage, where I come from and my roots was very important to me.

“I learned what it means to play for Great Britain, it is something I’m proud of and to walk out with captain James Graham and stand arm to arm with those boys was special.

“To wear the Lions badge on my chest was extremely humbling. It filled me with so much pride and I sang the national anthem too which a lot of people weren’t expecting – but that was a big thing for me, it was part of the proof that I was all in and not just for show.”

Hastings hopes to perform on the big stage for new club Wigan this year so he can earn a call-up to the England national team for when they take on Australia in the Ashes this autumn.

He added: “I’m extremely proud of playing for GB but we were disappointed that we weren’t able to get the right results.

“In the future, if I deserve to get picked for Great Britain or England then I’ll be doing everything I can to make sure we turn those results around.”