Liam Marshall pays tribute to Wigan Warriors and family after emotional year
Liam Marshall has paid tribute to Wigan Warriors and his family for the support they’ve given him in what he describes as a ‘whirlwind’ year: both on and off the pitch.
The 28-year-old played a crucial role in Wigan‘s historic 2024 campaign, finishing the regular season as Super League’s top try-scorer with 27 tries in 26 appearances as well as helping the Warriors become the first team in the Super League era to win the quadruple in a single season.
Whilst he has enjoyed plenty of highs on the pitch this year, Marshall has had to deal with a rollercoaster of emotions off it, too.
On February 2, he became a father for the first time after his wife Megan gave birth to daughter Elsie. But the following the day, Marshall’s much-loved mother Debbie passed away.
It was a loss which not only hit Marshall but was also felt deeply at the club. The Marshalls a hugely popular family in Wigan, with his dad David having played for the Cherry and Whites in the late 80s and early 90s, growing up with Shaun Wane.
Marshall’s team-mates, staff and the wider people within the Wigan club supported Marshall and his family throughout that tumultuous period: and now he has become a Super League champion for the first time as a father to his beloved Elsie.
“It’s well-known that my start of the year was sort of incredible with the birth of my daughter and then what happened with my mum so it’s been a whirlwind but on the field it probably couldn’t have gone any better to be fair,” Marshall said after Wigan’s 9-2 win over Hull KR at Old Trafford on Saturday.
“That’s a massive credit to the lads and the coaching staff and the guys above them because they looked after me and did what was best for me, I missed sessions and had to do what I needed to do but I feel like we’ve paid them back.
“My brothers, my dad, my child Elsie and my wife Meg and a couple of my mates had come along so one of the nicest things is looking up after the game and seeing their smiling faces knowing how much it means to them as much as it means to us.
“They make a lot of sacrifices off the field for what we do, there’s days when I just want to sit with my feet up and relax and Meg is wanting to go out, but it pays me back when we have incredible nights like that. I know Elsie is only little but we can show her the pictures when she is a little bit older.”
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And for Marshall, playing for Wigan and representing his hometown club means everything, with the prolific winger having scored 154 tries in 184 appearances since his debut for the Cherry and Whites back in 2017.
“It’s obviously very humbling to pull on the Wigan shirt every week, I’m a local lad,” Marshall told Love Rugby League.
“I was brought up 10 minutes from the stadium and it means a lot to me, my family and my extended family. I think every single one of them is a Wigan fan, they don’t really talk about it much but I know it means a lot to them.
“The quadruple is amazing and I think it will take a while to settle in but I think it has sort of put us up there with one of the best Wigan sides that there’s ever been.
“The achievement won’t sink in for a while yet but, when we’re all done in 20 years and we have a reunion with the lads from all over the world, it’ll be special.
“Obviously it was an amazing finish to what’s been a remarkable year. The four trophies was something that only cropped up as the year rolled on, so to be the first team do it in the modern era is an outstanding achievement and probably not really one we’ll process or understand or get how big it is until months or even years down the line.”
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