Why this has been the biggest week in Wigan Warriors’ Brad O’Neill’s life on and off the pitch

Brad O’Neill is not even 20 yet, but is set to take centre stage in today’s Challenge Cup semi-finals.

Due to the long term suspension of hooker Sam Powell, it will be 19-year-old Brad O’Neill who starts at nine for the Warriors against their biggest rivals St Helens barring any shock decision from coach Matt Peet.

This time a year ago O’Neill was playing for Widnes Vikings on loan averaging over 42 tackles per game but was recalled by the Warriors following a crisis at nine which saw him make his Super League debut at 18 against Wakefield coming off the bench in a surprise defeat for Wigan just 11 months ago.

How times have changed for Wigan and O’Neill. After a difficult season in 2021, the Warriors are now joint top alongside rivals St Helens who they face in today’s semi-final and no team in the league has scored as many points in the league as the Warriors at this stage giving them a real chance of ending St Helens’ reign as cup holders today.

Meanwhile, now O’Neill is a reliable member of the first team squad and a more than suitable replacement for Powell. In fact, in O’Neill’s two appearances against Salford and Warrington, Wigan have been a points scoring machine.

But big things have also been happening in his personal life as well this week. As he prepares for the biggest game of his career, he also welcomed the birth of his daughter just two days ago.

Congratulations, @BradOneill17! ❤️#WWRL pic.twitter.com/ZFBKTr9OVH

— Wigan Warriors 🍒⚪️ (@WiganWarriorsRL) May 5, 2022

Can he now produce a special win to go with his special week? He’ll certainly hope so and will hope to have his daughter down in London in three weeks’ time for the Challenge Cup Final.