“I had no support” – Oliver Gildart opens up on “toughest period” in his career

Oliver Gildart is one of the best English centres out there and one of the very few to have a crack at the NRL.

Based of his performances for England in 2018 when he scored a World Class winning try against New Zealand in the opening test of a three-match series, Gildart has the ability to be one of the world’s best.

Of course, his coach on that occasion Wayne Bennett has now masterminded his move to the NRL’s newest club the Dolphins where Gildart will no doubt feel like he has something to prove which could make him more dangerous than ever.

Gildart is a two-time Super League Champion winning Grand Finals in 2016 and 2018 with Wigan Warriors. He is one of the younger players to play in a Grand Final doing so in 2015 in one of his two Grand Final defeats the other coming against St Helens in 2020.

A real star of Super League, it was exciting to see him have a crack at the NRL in 2022 but he fell out of favour at Wests Tigers after just eight appearances and has been looking elsewhere since.

All of this, alongside the fact he was left out of England’s World Cup squad, has left Gildart with something to prove no doubt which will only be furthered by the deal he has signed with the Dolphins.

Now Gildart has said it was “the tough period” in his career.

“I played eight games at the Tigers but it didn’t work out the way we planned it,” Gildart told the AAP.

“That was the toughest period in my career, mentally more than anything.

“I was on the other side of the world with no family, no friends and no support really. That was pretty hard.

“I kept my head down and tried to be the best player I could … went to the Roosters and learned a lot.

“I spent seven or eight seasons at Wigan and I’ve had three NRL clubs here in the space of a year-and-a-half but I came to Australia to challenge myself.”