NRL pundit and current Director of Football at Canterbury Bulldogs, Phil Gould, has touted Wigan Warriors’ star Junior Nsemba as the next English talent to make the switch to the NRL.
Gould has gone as far as to say that Nsemba could “easily” handle the switch which is a testament to the incredible ability that the Wigan Warriors youngster has.
Nsemba only turned 20 this season with last year being his breakthrough campaign. The second-rower played 15 games in 2023 and was perhaps unlucky to miss out on the Super League Young Player of the Year award, which instead went to Warrington’s Josh Thewlis.
However, with 22 Super League appearances in 2024 and six tries to his name, he’ll be hard to beat for the award this season and it seems his performances have also caught the eye down under.
Super League seem to be producing talented second-rowers at a good rate of late with Nsemba’s Wigan Warriors’ teammate Kai Pearce-Paul having successfully made the switch this season, whilst Matty Nicholson will move to Canberra Raiders for 2025 alongside another of Nsemba’s former teammates in Morgan Smithies.
According to Phil Gould, it could soon be the time for Junior Nsemba to make the switch.
Wigan Warriors star touted for NRL move
Credit: Paul Currie/SWpix.com
Gould was speaking on his ‘Six Tackles with Gus’ show when he spoke about the immense talent that Junior Nsemba possesses, claiming that he would be “very good” down under.
“There’s a boy playing for Wigan, big back-rower, Junior Nsemba,” Gould said on Wide World Of Sports’ Six Tackles With Gus.
“I think he’s signed for a few years at Wigan, but I’d like to be assured at some stage of his career he will come out to Australia and I think he will be very good.
“He’s a similar sort of build, similar sort of frame [as Newcastle rookie Kai Pearce-Paul] and I really like him.
“He’s on contract for a few years and he’s only young, but I think he’s a player who could easily come to Australia.”
Currently, Nsemba is learning the trade from one of the best-ever second-rowers that Super League has seen in the shape of Wigan Warriors captain Liam Farrell.
With the 20-year-old contracted until the end of the 2027 season, one of many long-term deals that Wigan Warriors have managed to cement of late, it would likely take a significant fee for an NRL side to pry him away but per Gould, it appears that he would have plenty of suitors.
Alternatively, he could leave at the end of his contract for the 2028 season, at which point he would still only be 23, set to turn 24.
