Super League sides Wigan Warriors and Warrington Wolves are reportedly interested in signing an England rugby union star who has expressed a love of rugby league.
Saracens back-rower Ben Earl recently told RugbyPass about his love of rugby league, stating: “I would have loved to do it. If someone said, ‘what would be your one regret?’ it would probably be not giving it a go at one point.”
The 28-year-old explained that he remains fully committed to England and Saracens but did concede that if he felt he ‘needed a change of tack’ that he would love to make the switch, though he admitted: “If union is a young man’s game, then league is a very young man’s game.”
Despite that, it’s not stopped Super League sides Warrington and Wigan exploring a move, according to CityAM, with any deal potentially set to be made after the 2027 Rugby Union World Cup by which point Earl would be 29.
Only last year did Wigan Warriors sign Christian Wade whilst Warrington’s coach Sam Burgess famously made the switch to rugby union and represented England at a World Cup.
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Wigan Warriors and Warrington CEOs comment on Ben Earl
Earl’s reported wages of £600,000 could be a stumbling block but Super League sides would get salary cap dispensation because of his rugby union background. Moreover, both Wigan Warriors and Warrington Wolves are very well-backed club’s with owners Mike Danson and Simon Moran among the wealthiest owners in Super League.
Recently, the CEOs of both Wigan and Wire appeared on Sky Sports’ The Bench podcast where they addressed the comments that Earl had made to RugbyPass.
“Obviously, he’s been quoted in terms of having an ambition to play rugby league at some stage,” Karl Fitzpatrick, Warrington’s CEO said.
“It’s not a name that we’ve discussed, however, we have dipped our toe in the new talent pool dispensation market, which ultimately means rugby union players.
“We’ve had Luther Burrell here and had other players going way back… he’s not been discussed but a player of that ilk, that calibre and what he stands for I wouldn’t be surprised if a number of rugby league clubs would be looking at him following the comments he’s made.”
Radlinski added: “It was brilliant to read it (the RugbyPass interview) for such a high-profile player to be a lover of our sport.”
He also revealed that Andy Farrell’s Ireland coaching staff were set to visit Wigan, showcasing the esteem with which Super League clubs are held.
Eric T Cat
May 6, 2026 at 1:43 pm
Waste of time and money, too old, one set of six, a couple of hard tackles, and he will not know what hit him. Union players simply aren’t fit enough unless they’re younger, and have played League at some point. Christian Wade was ok with the ball in his hand, but defensively the poor lad was a tad exposed. The guy attempting to go into the pack? For a start the ball is in play twice as much in League, the relentless tackle, reset, tackled, kick on the last, then the discipline of attacking sets, what’s he going to do when a game goes 30 minutes at high intensity, low penalty count, no scrums, high completion rate of sets of six, barely a break, that’s more than he’d get in an entire game of Union. No standing about waiting for lineouts, no resetting of scrums for technical infringements, no plodding about with rucks and mauls with little defensive or attacking shape, suddenly required to adopt the discipline of League’s defensive and attacking lines, where if you standout you’re spotted as the weak point and they attack you all the more. Let him try a few matches over the summer with an amateur side, get a taste for the sport at a lower level. He might find it is sometimes better to be up in the stands watching than putting yourself through 80 minutes of a fiercely contested match.