Ex-Wigan Warriors fullback Matt Bowen to make rugby league return

Ex-Wigan Warriors fullback Matt Bowen will line up for the Australian Team of NRL Legends against the Sarina All Stars in the Legends of League fixture held at Sarina this weekend.

Bowen, who played for Wigan in 2014 and 2015, retired at the end of the 2015 Super League season but will don the boots once more in what should be an entertaining fixture.

The match features almost 3,500 games of NRL and Super League experience, 135 State of Origin appearances and 106 International appearances, with former Widnes Vikings forward Hep Cahill lining up for Sarina.

Bowen scored 24 tries and kicked 31 goals in his two-year period with the Warriors, but could not inspire a Grand Final victory in 2014 against bitter rivals St Helens nor in 2015 against the Leeds Rhinos.

The 39-year-old fullback played all of his NRL career with the North Queensland Cowboys, being a key part of their 2005 NRL runners-up campaign.

Bowen scored 130 tries in 270 games for the Cowboys between 2001 and 2014, with 36 goals and five drop-goals to his name also.

Following his retirement, Bowen returned to Australia to take up a role as a Community Engagement Officer for his former club, the North Queensland Cowboys. In January 2016, too, Bowen was selected as one of the NRL’s Community Ambassadors for that year.